Former NT Chief Minister Adam Giles has told a court he demanded an explanation from his former police commissioner John McRoberts about why prominent Darwin travel agent Xana Kamitsis was paraded before the media when she was arrested on fraud charges.
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McRoberts is currently on trial in the NT Supreme Court, having pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice, after allegedly undermining his detectives' investigation into Kamitsis, with whom he had been sexually involved.
Mr Giles, who was thrown out of government at the 2016 election, told the court he had instructed McRoberts "to go hard and fully pursue ... to the full extent of the law" eight out of 27 travel agents - including Kamitsis's Latitude Travel - who appeared to have most seriously defrauded a government travel pensioner concession scheme.
The alleged fraud involved about $4 million in total with Kamitsis's amount more than $120,000, the court heard.
Mr Giles said McRoberts did not tell him about a conflict of interest in that investigation, such as the fact he was having an affair with the married Kamitsis.
McRoberts's lawyer Tony Elliot produced an email showing the former chief minister asking his police commissioner for an explanation about the humiliating way Kamitsis, who was also chair of Crime Stoppers NT, had been arrested.
Mr Giles agreed he had been prompted to email McRoberts after an email from someone named in court only as "Bob" complaining about the arrest.
Earlier this week the trial heard McRoberts angrily rebuked his fellow senior officers over Kamitsis's arrest.
The former police chief has also denied allegations he undermined his own detectives by blocking a search warrant on the woman's business.
Australian Associated Press