Blackmail charges after companies threatened

Photo / File

A Napier man has been charged with blackmail after a number of New Zealand companies received threats in July.

The 55-year-old man will appear in the Hastings District Court on seven counts of blackmail today.

Detective Inspector Chris Cahill of Auckland City CIB said the investigation into the threats made had been ongoing since July.

The arrest follows the execution of a search warrant by Police at a Napier address yesterday.

"Police made a carefully considered judgement about not making the threat public until this point," Cahill said.

"This decision followed a thorough risk assessment which took into consideration all the information available to Police.

"This decision could have been reviewed at any stage if Police had become aware of any new information which might have changed the risk assessment."

The man could face up to 14 years imprisonment if found guilty of the charges.