"John [Banks] said, 'Wait a minute'," Dotcom recalled last night. "'It would be good if you could split it up into two payments of 25 [thousand dollars], then I don't declare publicly who made it'."

Someone's telling 'porkies' and Kim Dotcom has nothing to hide, but the leader of the Act Party (NZ) may be sweating...

Photos / Sarah Ivey, Jason Dorday

Dotcom's secret donation to Banks may have put Banks in very hot water and his name indicates this to be so in 2012.

According to a NZ Herald story, Kim Dotcom wanted to give John Banks a $50k donation to help with his Auckland Mayoral campaign in 2010, and there's nothing wrong with that; but wait, there's more...

As a cheque for the $50k was about to be written out from Kim Dotcom's account, Banks interjected if the donation could be split into two $25k cheques so he did not have to declare who gave him the campaign donation money; now there's one problem, but wait there's more...

Banks requested the $50k split in April 2010 in the presence of witnesses at Kim Dotcom's home in West Auckland, but Banks 'appears' to be concerned now that he is being investigated by the police due to another $15k donation listed 'anonymous' that came from SkyCity.

Apparently, any political candidate is lawfully required to identify the name of any benefactor who provides donations, if they know who gave the funds, otherwise (Banks in this case) could be facing imprisonment, a fine, and lose his political seat and leadership of the Act Party.

Banks has stated he hardly knows Kim Dotcom, and has spent a total of 20 minutes talking to him; yet he has been to Kim's mansion, was filmed at Kim's birth day party making toasts to Kim at the dining table where he was recorded as standing and saying; "I'm going to propose a toast to Kim Dotcom. Please fill your glasses and stand. Happy birthday and best wishes to Kim Dotcom, Mona and his family."

Kim's staff said Banks had been there 3 times, and Kim and Banks had also been together at Princes Wharf on New Year's Eve 2010.

Banks had been provided helicopter transport from Auckland city to Dotcom's mansion in April 2010 where they talked together in the presence of some of Kim's staff.

All this seems a lot more than 20 minutes.

It was at Kim's mansion that Banks mentioned his election campaign and the need to raise money, and Kim obliged by instructing his financial officer to script a $50k cheque for Banks who said; "Wait a minute, it would be good if you could split it up into two payments of 25 [thousand dollars], then I don't declare publicly who made it," said Kim when talked to about the matter.

Two $25k cheques were provided and Banks phoned and thanked Kim personally when they were cleared through his bank, but isn't it interesting that Banks has now stated; "If Kim Dotcom wants to put money into my campaign anonymously he is quite entitled to do it".

Then, [all within the same '20 minutes' as Banks told reporters] Banks calls Mr Tempero, a senior member of Kim's staff for a hotel recommendation in Hong Kong in December 2011. Kim, who has rented the top floor of the Hyatt Hong Kong for six years, told Mr Banks it was the best place to stay. He arranged for his limo to collect Mr Banks from the airport and later to drive him to a helicopter pad for a trip to Macau.

I credit much of this story to David Fisher of the NZ Herald, but would like to add further comment about Banks for your interest.

QUESTIONS
Why does John Banks seem to fear he has a congenial and financial relationship with Kim Dotcom?

Is Banks concerned that 'others' may not appreciate his connections and the support Kim Dotcom has given to Banks?

Does John Banks suddenly realise that his actions have placed him on a razors edge as far as his political career is concerned and that his colleagues and associates may now be turning their faces away from him as he has allegedly been discovered Acting illegally?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS
The name "John" is statistically the highest ranked name in business success, and, for criminal activity, yet the name "James" is more popular but ranks comparatively low for business success and illegal activities.

The name "John" literally means "plan Cleverly and quietly".

John's Progressive Indicator on his Performance Chart I created on him, shows he has been having a lot of difficulties since 2008, but especially during 2010, and from mid 2011 till the present, and right now (especially in May 2012), like a Russian Doll, he is in a wobbly state according to the same Indicators on his Performance Chart.

Finally, if John Banks makes it through these hurdles and hoops, he has bigger barriers to scale in November / December 2013 and a very challenging time in 2015, that's for certain!

I have to say, Kim's openness and honesty about this whole matter is admirable. He has nothing to hide.

Peter Vaughan
Profiler