Crossing borders: Lebamoff’s work in border security and immigration took him to refugee sites in Iraq.

An American expert who came to New Zealand to write a report on border security claims he was subject to heavy-handed tactics by intelligence agencies that seemed determined to shut him down.

Craig Lebamoff has worked on border security around the world, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Gagging order: Craig Lebamoff, pictured receiving his Sir Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy from Steven Joyce in 2012 – says efforts were made to stop him publishing his report on New Zealand border security.

He was working for the high-powered Department of Homeland Security when he won the prestigious Sir Ian Axford Fulbright Fellowship in public policy, and elected to have a stint as an "embedded attorney" with New Zealand's security, intelligence and police agencies. His aim was to write a thesis on border security.

But the New Zealand sabbatical quickly turned sour after seven months and his thesis was never published after the New Zealand Government refused to clear its release.

In an extraordinary series of allegations, he says he was threatened with an investigation by the Security Intelligence Service, locked out of his office at NZ Customs, had his computer hard drive and research materials seized while colleagues reported his rubbish bins being searched - he believes by the SIS.

Lebamoff was at one stage so concerned by the reaction of New Zealand authorities to his border security report he says he feared being stopped as he tried to leave the country.

In an even more bizarre twist, he says he was warned off by the director of New Zealand's Intelligence Co-ordination Group, Roy Ferguson, who is based in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC).

Adding weight to Lebamoff's claims, Ferguson does not dispute the meeting and acknowledges he became involved as a matter of national security. He also confirms that a representative of the US Embassy was at the meeting. The embassy has refused comment.

It all adds up to what seems like an extraordinary over-reaction to a report that largely concluded the major threat to New Zealand's borders was not terrorism but a biosecurity breach.

I T WAS late 2010 when Lebamoff applied to the New Zealand embassy in Washington for the fellowship, a $40,000 scholarship that would provide some respite with his wife and children after an arduous stint in Iraq where he had been assisting Iraqi refugees and working on border security issues.

His work in border security and immigration has taken him to US diplomatic posts in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, El Salvador, Jordan and elsewhere.

The scholarship started in February 2012 and course material at the time described Lebamoff as one of a number of "outstanding mid-career US professionals" brought to New Zealand to research and gain firsthand experience of public policy.

Customs acknowledges that it relied "heavily" on Lebamoff's "experience and security standing from the US Department of Homeland Security" in providing him high level security clearance, including access to key personnel in New Zealand's security and intelligence agencies agencies.

Lebamoff insists there was nothing in his report that compromised New Zealand's security and everything he cited was in the public domain. He is also adamant that regular updates were provided to his host agency mentor at NZ Customs, Peter Taylor, and that his report was reviewed by two lawyers at Customs to check the information cited was publicly available, as well as subject to regular reviews and checks by other agencies.

But when he circulated a draft of his report for feedback and comment it set in train a series of bizarre events.

He received an email from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warning it "wouldn't be responsible for the consequences" if he published the report. Within the hour, the SIS phoned and accused him of using sensitive information, Lebamoff says. They also warned him of a possible investigation.

Both MFAT and the SIS have refused to comment.

One insider with knowledge of Lebamoff's Axford Fellowship application said it was unusual to have someone with his clearance level on the programme. That made it unlikely anyone would talk.

"He will have been discussing with a variety of New Zealand agencies sensitive matters; nobody is going to tell you much. That's the space you're working in."

After a meeting over the draft report, relations with Taylor at Customs broke down and Lebamoff's building access was revoked and materials seized.

Customs says it had become aware by this stage that Lebamoff's report was "of very poor standard" and contained incorrect information. This was also the reason offered by Fulbright NZ director Mele Wendt when first approached last year during the standoff, though she later retracted her statement. The Axford fellowship is administered by Fulbright in New Zealand.

Customs also said the report contained information that was "inconsistent with the Official Information Act and Privacy Act" but it would not elaborate.

At that point, Fulbright chairman and former prime minister Jim Bolger was brought in to help mediate.

About two days after the standoff at Customs, Lebamoff says he was informed by Wendt that "you need to see Ambassador Ferguson".

Ferguson, the former New Zealand ambassador to Washington, now heads the Intelligence Co-ordination Group at DPMC.

Lebamoff says after being summoned to the meeting at a building in Wellington's Pipitea St he was given a lecture on the importance of the New Zealand-US relationship.

"He [Ferguson] said he didn't want to damage that; there were things in my report that could potentially damage that. I had no idea what he was talking about. He gave me no specifics."

The conversation took a more ominous turn when Ferguson repeatedly warned him not to talk to the media.

"I took it as an implied threat. He said there could be a more serious investigation ‘if you talk to the media'."

Ferguson says he became involved because "a number of the agencies [at least four] that had dealt with Craig Lebamoff were concerned when they received his draft report. They asked me to intervene given DPMC's co-ordination role on national security issues and I was happy to do so given my previous association with the Axford Programme in both Wellington and Washington.

"I explained the concerns of New Zealand agencies [and] reminded him of the commitment he had made to at least one agency to show them a draft of material relating to them before circulation of his draft report."

Ferguson did not respond to specific questions about his threats over going to the media.

Lebamoff says he was earlier told by the SIS that another agency had drawn attention to three paragraphs they believed may have come from a report not available to the public. He is mystified by the allegation.

"I was never told the nature of the material or the subject. However, I can say that at no time did anyone give me material, either verbal or in a document that was labelled secret, or which they told me was secret, or could not be released to the public."

A UTHOR NICKY HAGER, who has seen Lebamoff's report, believes he knows what spooked our security agencies.

He claims it relates to details in the report about how some information is shared between New Zealand and the US but he thinks the sensitivity is all on New Zealand's side.

"I'd be surprised if that stuff is in a published document already," Hager said.

"However, I think what we've seen here is somebody from a different jurisdiction has come here, made reasonable assumptions about what should be secret and what isn't . . . He didn't realise that here they've got in the habit of stamping secret on everything."

Lebamoff's former colleagues at Customs are mystified by the whole thing. Those contacted say they have been warned off talking to the media and don't understand how things turned so sour.

Lebamoff believes it is more likely New Zealand agencies overreacted out of sensitivity to some of his criticisms and observations of New Zealand agencies.

His report referred to "the turmoil at MFAT" over restructuring and was also highly critical of the Bill Liu case, involving Labour MP and former government minister Shane Jones using his political position to override opposition from officials to the the Chinese national getting citizenship. Liu was of interest to Interpol at the time.

In one email supplied by Lebamoff, Fulbright's Wendt referred to him reviewing his draft report "with the ‘lens' of upholding the positive NZ-US bilateral relationship between agencies in this area and keep in mind the potential for sensationalism and fallout from certain content in the report".

The New Zealand government refused to clear the report for release and Lebamoff's planned presentation and seminar were canned without explanation.

Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Lebamoff says efforts were made to get him to sign a Deed of Settlement agreeing not to publish the report or take legal action against the New Zealand government or Fulbright NZ.

He left New Zealand refusing to sign the document and hopes to publish his report elsewhere soon.

The run-in with New Zealand bureaucracy has been unpleasant.

"Sadly, the actions of a small minority in New Zealand that apparently cannot withstand criticism left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

"The actions of NZSIS and MFAT, especially, were heavy handed, extremely out of proportion, unprofessional and inappropriate both in terms of the proper way to host an academic guest and as an affront to the cherished Fulbright standards of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas between countries.

"I am sure the average Kiwi would be ashamed of the way I was treated."