Feeley's emailed apology released

Mr Feeley wrote the email on Saturday afternoon, shortly after news broke he had toasted the laying of charges against Bridgecorp directors using champagne owned by the finance company.

Mr Feeley said he "would like to offer sincere apologies for the embarrassment this has caused."

He described the champagne as "left behind" by Bridgecorp when they vacated their offices.

The email was released after the NBR made a request under the Official Information Act for the document.

The text of Mr Feeley's email - with one line blanked out in order to, according to Ms Collins, "maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation or officers and employees of any department or organisation in the course of their duty" is :

Sent: Sat Oct 01 13:37:14 2011

Dear Minister,

In light of this morning’s article in the Herald, I would like to offer my sincere apologies for the embarrassment that this has caused.

The reported drinks were offered to staff with the intention of acknowledging their lengthy and substantial efforts with the Bridgecorp investigation. Having been left behind when the Eden Park Redevelopment ream took over the former Bridgecorp premises, the remaining bottle of champagne was simply intended to be a symbolic recognition of the investigation efforts.

BLACKED OUT LINE HERE. However I am more disappointed that a lapse in judgment on my part has undermined the efforts and successes of the Office, both in relation to Bridgecorp and other companies.

The focus of the past two years has been about delivering you and the public good results and a sense of confidence in the work of the Office. However well-intentioned my attempts to recognise staff performance may have been, they have inadvertently diminished the positive perception of those those (sic) efforts.

Again, I offer my sincere apologies for this. However, I also offer my total commitment to ensuring that the Office continues to deliver results that you and the public can take renewed confidence from.

I will be providing the SSC a full report on the background to this matter. And I am available at your convenience to provide you with any further information you may want.

Yours sincerely

Adam Feeley.

The revelations about Mr Feeley, including handing out a copy of Allan Hubbard's biography during a Christmas raffle, have drawn criticism from many corners.

Greg O'Connor, head of the Police Association, told NBR such behaviour would not be tolerated if the SFO had merged as planned with the Police in 2008.

Tony Boshier, head of the New Zealand Criminal Bar Association, said Mr Feeley should resign over "very poor judgment".

Ms Collins requested the State Services Commission look into Mr Feeley's behaviour, and this week SSC boss Ian Rennie cautioned the SFO chief executive but refrained from further action.