Former ACT MP and convicted fraudster Donna Awatere Huata says a disaffected former board member is behind an injunction preventing her from working for a Maori land trust in the Hawke's Bay.
The Maori Land Court granted the interim injunction, preventing trustees of the Tataraakina C Trust from appointing anyone until it makes a further ruling.
Henare Ratima, a former trustee, sought the injunction, saying Mrs Awatere Huata was inappropriate for the senior executive role which was not advertised.
In 2005, Mrs Huata was convicted of misusing funds belonging to a literacy programme the Pipi Foundation.
She told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report programme on Monday that Mr Ratima has failed at successive elections to win a place on the board.
"He was on the trust many years ago and he stood for election in 2007, 2009 and 2011 and was roundly defeated. He failed to get on and I consider he's using the Maori Land Court as a back door way of manipulating the trust."
Mrs Huata says comments by the Maori Land Court in relation to documents it sought but never received from the trust were made before it received a response from either herself or the trust.
