Herald on Sunday publisher APN has been ordered to pay undisclosed costs to a former prostitute after its application to overturn a court-imposed confidentiality order and reveal her identity was dismissed.
The 41-year-old Bay of Plenty woman was facing legal action from ASB Bank over $2.5 million paid to her by jailed conman, and former banker, Stephen Versalko, but the case was settled out of court last month.
APN applied to the High Court in Auckland to dismiss an order prohibiting publication of the woman's name.
In a decision released by the court today, the woman's lawyer, David Jones QC, said the publication of her name would be "detrimental" to the mental health of her teenage daughter, who did not know about her mother's former occupation.
APN's counsel, Bruce Gray QC, said while there would be "adverse consequences" for the teenage daughter, they did not justify the suppression order as media were surrogates of the court and should be free to report its proceedings.
Also, readers were able to relate to a story when those in it were identified, he said.
The court found "the fundamental requirement of open reporting of the court's business has been satisfied".
"Publication of her name is not necessary to advance public debate from which common values are formed," it said.
The woman was working as an escort at Auckland's Pelican Club when she met Versalko, who was last year sentenced to six years' jail for stealing $17.8m from 30 ASB Bank customers.
The Serious Fraud Office discovered Versalko, who worked for the bank between 1997 and 2009, spent $3.35m of his employer's money on two escorts.
The other prostitute, whom Versalko paid just under $800,000, was not been pursued by the bank.
NZPA