James Jeffs to quit N.Z. —‘name ruined now’

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 2

James Jeffs to quit N.Z. —‘name ruined now’

PA Auckland Mr James Jeffs the for-j mer head of the JBL group/ will leave Auckland today for Britain and his family, probably never to return to his native New Zealand. He says his name and credibility in the business world here have been ruined. The same did not apply in the United Kingdom. “I’ll never employ staff i again, as a result of my experience with JBL,” he said. "I don’t want to accept the responsibility, and there are too many worries.” On his return to England, Mr Jeffs will look after his small family trust investment company which, he says, is very small compared with JBL.

“You don’t disclose your business in London, but I have got nothing to hide.” He refused to discuss the JBL case while the Court of Appeal uas still Sitting, pending its decision on his appeal against convictions on four charges of conspiracy to defraud the public. ! Neither would he discuss court actions against the A.N.Z. Bank and the receiver [which it appointed to JBL. However, he said, he refused to run away from the press.

“Naturally, it’s been a very considerable strain in that I have been unable to work for about I s months, he said. “It’s not feasible to come back to New Zealand because my commercial credibilitv here has been ruined.” Mr Jeffs voluntarily admitted himself to prison on September 1. The only reason, he said, was to get the nine-month sentence completed so he could return to his family. He was released last Wednesday after serving six months, most cf it at Wi Tako prison farm, near Trentham. “I received the same remission as any other inmate who had earned it,” he said. While in prison, Mr Jeffs wrote daily to his wife, and she replied daily.

He has no complaints [about the way he was treated in prison. | “I was treated like any other inmate,” he said. “Conditions m New Zealand jails are relatively decent. The same cannot be said for Pentonville.” (He spent several days in 1-entonvilie Jail, in England, before his extradition to New Zealand). While in Wi Tako he spent his few free hours walking nearly 20 kilometres a day around the compound tn keep his weight down.

I “It was typical institution, Army type food ( —there was nothing wrong with it,” he said. The prison officers and staff did the best they could with the facilities they had, both in Mount Eden Prison (where he spent several days), and in Wi Tako. He described his stay as one of the most relaxing periods in his life, away from business and the telephone. Time went quickly because he wanted to get'

physically fit and get his weight down. He spent most of his day working in the prison’s laundry. “Wi Tako, being a modern institution, had much better facilities than Mount Eden for staff and inmates alike. Doubtless this makes Wi Tako an easier place to live in.” He had five different cell mates, he said. “I could not really tell you what they were in for, we normally did not discuss