Judge rejects Frank Pukekura’s claim that $31k in cash was earned from making meth pipes

Frank Pukekura claimed that cash found in his house came from making and selling meth pipes. Photo / NZME

A former Mongrel Mob president told the police that $31,000 in cash found in his house had been made by making and selling glass pipes for smoking methamphetamine.

But police said, if that were true, Frank Pukekura would have had to have sold thousands of pipes to make that sort of money.

To be precise – 5205 pipes, if he was selling them at $6 each.

Instead, a judge has decided that, on the balance of probabilities, the cash was earned from selling methamphetamine or cannabis, and has ordered it to be forfeited to the Crown.

The High Court at Gisborne heard that police searched Pukekura’s property in February last year and found cannabis and meth.

They also found $31,230, roughly bundled and in denominations of $20 and $50 notes, in the pockets of various jackets hung in and around the house.

Pukekura was charged with possession of cannabis, possession of methamphetamine and possession of utensils for methamphetamine.

He was convicted and sentenced to 150 hours of community work last May.

The Commissioner of Police subsequently applied for an asset forfeiture order in respect of the cash under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act.

The Act allows police to seize property obtained through significant criminal activity and obtain court orders to have it forfeited to the Crown.

Pukekura, 65, a former Tauranga chapter president of the Mongrel Mob, was given a forfeit application in respect of the cash and indicated to the person serving it that he would take no steps to oppose it.

Justice Timothy Brewer said he was satisfied that the cash was “tainted property” in terms of the Act and granted the forfeiture order.

“It [the money] has been acquired as the result of significant criminal activity, namely the sale of cannabis and/or methamphetamine,” Justice Brewer said.

He said Pukekura had declared no income to Inland Revenue between 2017 and 2023.

“He was asked about the money and he said that it was raised from the sale of glass pipes which he made and sold for the purpose of smoking methamphetamine,” Justice Brewer said.

But the judge said that a deposition by police calculated Pukekura would have needed to sell 5205 pipes to raise that amount of cash.

“There was also a suggestion of fundraising by nephews, but nothing has been put forward to indicate how that could account for the $31,230,” Justice Brewer said.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.