Charles Wardle

Michael Field in Stuff has an interview and profile with Charles Wardle, who claims to have worked for the SIS, spying on Muslims in NZ. He was previously a jihadist himself.

While one can not be certain, I find his claims of working for the SIS to lack credibility. He has not one shred of proof that he did, and can’t name who he dealt with. Some extracts:

Testimony from a man serving a life sentence for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks revealed a Kiwi connection. Michael Field meets the man who once trained to be a terrorist before becoming an SIS spy. 

THE WAY Charles Wardle tells it, a warehouse converted into a mosque is where jihad might some day be launched on New Zealand.

Wardle’s quietly told story is almost beyond verification but it has left New Zealand’s 36,000-strong Islamic community severely embarrassed and distressed that the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) is targeting them over claims of a holy war they say does not exist.

The story is beyond verification, so why does the article state as a fact he became an SIS spy? Shouldn’t it say he alleges he was??

Wardle signed secrecy provisions of the Official Information Act and said he had no contract, was paid in cash, starting at $25 per hour and later $450 per week. He was told his pay was tax-free and it would not affect his student allowance.

As far as I know the SIS do nto have an exemption from the Tax Act. And why not keep a copy of what you signed?

Wardle said he would meet his handler each month at a restaurant.

Which restaurant? Do the owners confirm this? They tend to remember regular customers.

The policeman I talked to said there were big egos

So the Police were involved too? What was his name?

Other than a business card and phone numbers, Wardle has no proof he worked for the SIS. But he wrote to Intelligence and Security inspector-general Paul Neazor in 2009 complaining the SIS had not paid “the annual bonus and travel that had been verbally contracted”.

Neazor replied he would discuss the matter with the SIS director “and once I have sorted out what I can properly deal with, will respond further”. So far Neazor hasn’t.

Well this is wrong. Wardle has the response from Neazor on his own blog.

Wardle seems obsessed with the SIS. He has done videos about them, and has posted his “story” on multiple discussion boards. One lengthy one is on Indymedia. One extract is:

My de facto partner, who I claimed falsely to be Christian, a virgin prior to having been with me, and to be my wife, also followed numerous restrictions. We often walked separately when outside and she followed conservative restrictions on what she wore and how she behaved in public. I tried to keep the SIS informed of what was going on.

What sort of person just drops that into a public letter?

I don’t know whether or not Wardle had dealings with the SIS, but there seems to have been no attempts to verify his cliams, which might disprove them.