Gisborne link to ‘money mule’ arrest

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A Gisborne complainant is included in court action involving a Whanganui man accused of being a “money mule’” allegedly linked to eight investment scam victims and an estimated $1.7 million in stolen money.

The accused is a director and shareholder of multiple companies, a CEO and former board member for his child’s school.

Though police believe the man was allegedly in cahoots with overseas criminals who targeted KiwiBank customers in an elaborate rort, the man denies being a party to the fraud and plans to defend the charges at trial.

Asked by the NZ Herald whether he himself had been caught up in some kind of scam, he replied, “Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

The man was arrested last year and charged with five counts of money laundering totalling $900,000.

The Herald understood at least six victims appeared to be connected to the same accused “mule” who lost a combined $1.25m within the space of just one month.

One of the victims declined to proceed with a formal police complaint.

The NZ Herald has revealed that the man was charged with two further counts of money laundering last month relating to two new complainants, one in Whitianga and one in Gisborne, with additional losses of $450,000.

The amount involved with the Gisborne complainant has not been reported at this stage.

With the latest arrests, it’s alleged the man has now been linked to eight separate victims with total losses of about $1.7m.

The man is due to reappear in Whanganui District Court again this month.

He appeared there on February 20 on the two new charges, which relate to alleged offences in Whitianga between November 28, 2022, and December 12, 2022, and in Gisborne between March 27 and March 31 last year.

The man, who has name suppression, did not enter pleas and was remanded on bail to reappear this month.

If convicted he faces up to seven years in jail. — NZ Herald