New Zealand! aggravated robbery, steal, money-laundering 2024.11.18-12.16

Thousands of dollars of property and alcohol have been stolen from Rotorua’soldest sports club in a “gut-wrenching” theft the club president says feels like a “kick in the guts”.

The club said it suspected two men scoped out the Whakarewarewa Community Sports Club earlier on the night of Thursday last week before returning just after 4am on Friday to steal about $10,000 of alcohol and property.

Club president Marty Hatu said it was “gut-wrenching” that someone would steal from the club considering how much it strived to give back to the community.

Hatu said two men were caught on the club’s CCTV cameras scoping out the club before 8pm. They arrived in a silver late-model SUV-style vehicle with black mag wheels and parked in the club’s car park.

They spent the following 45 minutes going around the club checking it out, Hatu said. One of the men had a distinctive black side bag with a white skull and crossbones on it. They wore hoodies and gloves.

Just after 4am the club was broken into. The two men, who Hatu said arrived in the same car as the earlier men, could be seen on CCTV footage stealing the various items.

Hatu said the stolen items included an 85-inch television, a 15-inch Alto speaker, an Avanti bike, a cash register and a few thousands dollars’ worth of alcohol.

“We are probably at a loss of close to $10k worth of belongings and alcohol as we’d just stocked up our chiller for functions.”

Hatu said it was a “kick in the guts” to suffer such a setback after club members and its committee had worked hard to support the club which had seen an influx of youth and other members. He said that helped cover fees and registration costs and allowed the club to put on community events.

“You try and do good for the community and provide opportunities to people to be amazing and these f*s take it upon themselves to rip us off. These guys knew what they were up to and were casual as about it. When they steal from us, they steal from our community, our kids and our iwi.”

A police spokesman confirmed a burglary report had been made and inquiries around the circumstances and items stolen were being investigated.

Whakarewarewa Community Sports Club was established in 1890 and has a strong relationship to Te Arawa hapū Tuhourangi Ngāti Wahiao. Sports at the club include premier rugby, junior rugby, netball, golf, softball, volleyball, 8 ball and fishing.

•Fuqin (Lily) Che and Qiang (Michael) Fu will forfeit $2.2 million in assets to the Crown.
•They were convicted under anti-money-laundering law for moving $53m for a Chinese businessman.
•The forfeited assets include a house, $500,000 in cash, a Maserati and a Mercedes.

A mother and son involved in a suspicious multimillion-dollar money-handling scheme have agreed to hand over about $2.2 million in property to the Crown, including a house and two cars – a Maserati and a Mercedes.

Fuqin (Lily) Che, Qiang (Michael) Fu and their company, Jiaxin Finance, have already been prosecuted, convicted and fined almost $2.9m after an investigation into large-scale money remittances coming from China.

The pair were prosecuted by the Department of Internal Affairs under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

Separately, police obtained restraining orders under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 over two houses in Auckland, along with $500,000 in cash, a 2015 Maserati and a 2011 Mercedez Benz, all taken from Che and Fu.

The assets were seized in police raids in July 2016, shortly after the Internal Affairs investigation ended.

The cash was made up of $472,000 found in the living area of a house Che and Fu shared, and $28,000 found in Fu’s bedroom.

The Internal Affairs prosecution later alleged Jiaxin was a family enterprise in which Fu, the sole director and shareholder, and his mother, Che, were running a racket at the behest of a businessman living in Canada, Xiaohua (Edward) Gong.

Gong has been described by High Court Justice Christine Gordon as a “Chinese national and fraudster” who defrauded investors in a pyramid scheme of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The mother and son appealed unsuccessfully against their convictions and sentence, with their barrister, Ron Mansfield KC, arguing they did not know Gong was involved in any unlawful activity.

The prosecution case alleged Gong used New Zealand to launder proceeds from the illegal Chinese pyramid scheme.

Che and Fu were found guilty by High Court Justice Tracey Walker of failing to keep adequate records, and failing to report 311 suspicious transactions totalling about $53m between April 2015 and May 2016.

Jiaxin Finance Ltd, which has since been deregistered, was fined $2.25m. Lily Che was fined $202,000 and Michael Fu $180,000.

After they unsuccessfully appealed their convictions to the Court of Appeal and then failed to get leave to take their case to the Supreme Court, the Commissioner of Police applied for the forfeiture of two houses belonging to the pair, the cash seized from their home, and the two cars.

Subsequent negotiations reached a settlement under which Che and Fu would surrender one of the houses, the cash, the cars and a further $400,000 as a “settlement sum”, which could be raised by borrowing against the second house.

The settlement agreement between Che, Fu and the police was approved recently by Justice Gordon in the High Court at Auckland.

The approximate value of the property being forfeited is $2.2m.

Che and Fu will be allowed to keep equity of about $366,000 from the assets which were formerly restrained.

The Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Act is used by police to seize assets which have been acquired and “tainted” by “significant” criminal activity.

It is often used against gang members and others involved in drug-dealing, but has been used for financial and other white-collar crimes also.

Monday, 18 November 2024 – 7:18pm | Wellington
Police investigating aggravated robbery of Hutt Central dairy

Police are investigating after an aggravated robbery at a dairy in Hutt Central last night where a female shopkeeper was assaulted.

At least four masked offenders entered the dairy on Knights Road at 6.41pm last night, assaulting the victim before taking off in a stolen vehicle with cigarettes, cash and other items.

Detective Senior Sergeant Rachael Boyd says the victim received minor injuries, but is understandably extremely upset by what has occurred and Police are very concerned by the level of violence shown by those involved.

The offenders have dumped the stolen vehicle at the corner of Totara Crescent and Rangiora Street in Woburn before getting into another stolen vehicle which was then dumped on Parliament Street.

The offenders have then fled on foot. Police attended the scene and used a dog unit in attempt to track the offenders but without success.

Enquiries to identify those involved are well-underway and we are in the process of reviewing CCTV footage and speaking to witnesses.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the mentioned areas or anyone who thinks they have information or CCTV which may be of assistance to our enquiries to please update us online now or call 105.

Please use the reference number 241117/8174.

Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre.

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警方正在调查哈特中心区乳品厂严重抢劫案

昨晚，哈特中心区一家乳品店发生严重抢劫案，一名女店主遭到袭击，警方正在调查此案。

昨晚 6 点 41 分，至少有 4 名蒙面罪犯进入 Knights Road 的一家乳品厂，袭击了受害者，然后驾驶一辆偷来的车，抢走了香烟、现金和其他物品。

侦缉高级警长雷切尔·博伊德 (Rachael Boyd) 表示，受害者受了轻伤，但可以理解的是，她对所发生的事情感到非常不安，警方对涉案人员所表现出的暴力程度非常担忧。

罪犯将偷来的车辆丢弃在沃本市托塔拉新月街和朗吉奥拉街的拐角处，然后进入另一辆偷来的车辆，并将其丢弃在议会街。

罪犯随后徒步逃走。警方赶到现场，并使用警犬试图追踪罪犯，但没有成功。

我们正在对涉案人员进行调查，并正在查看闭路电视录像并与目击者交谈。

警方请求任何人在上述地区目睹任何可疑情况，或任何认为他们掌握的信息或闭路电视可能对我们的调查有帮助的人立即在线提供信息或拨打105。

请使用参考编号 241117/8174。