By Dylan Moran / Kim Choe
New Zealand porn boss Steve Crow has been fined $5,000 and ordered to pay legal costs after he changed his plea, having been accused of breaching a Ministry of Economic Development ban.
The ban was put in place last year, barring him for directing a New Zealand or Australian company for four years under the Companies Act, after two companies he owned were struck off the Companies Register and two others were liquidated.
Crow initially plead not guilty, but says he changed his plea as the cost of a three-day trial, set down for August 3rd, was estimated to be around $40,000 and he has “better things to do”.
Sources tell 3 News the legal bills may still be quite extensive as while Crow defended himself, "the ministry hired a top, very expensive, lawyer".
He says he is not happy with the conviction and still believes he has not done anything wrong, and legal advice backed this up.
“I’m the public face of the business, if I had to wind back the clock 20 years I probably wouldn’t do it,” he says.
“I am a target of the religious nutters.”
He denies he is in charge of the porn business, claiming his brother runs the company, but he is still a major shareholder.
He believes the case was only investigated because somebody complained about him, and is still considering whether or not he will fight the original ban.
3 News