As authorities battled to stop a downtown karaoke bar selling alcohol, a Herald investigation reveals the untold story of the short but colourful life of BayLuck Karaoke. George Block reports.
When 2023 dawned, BayLuck Karaoke & Lounge was recovering from a New Year’s Eve party where “VVIP” tables went for $1500 a pop, while planning for another year of raucous, lucrative events.
Meanwhile, police and Auckland Council officials were doing everything in their power to stop the venue selling alcohol, saying it had become a magnet for mayhem, citing stabbings and a shooting linked to patrons.
The CBD bar’s legal problems were about to get a whole lot worse.
The Herald on Sunday has been able to chart the chequered history of BayLuck via the criminal prosecution of a former director, council reports and a liquor licensing hearing this week.
BayLuck came under police scrutiny on New Year’s Day last year after three people, who police believe were patrons, were stabbed either at or near the venue.
But they were never able to lay charges after the New Year’s Day 2022 stabbings. No one would talk.
The violent fracas set the stage for a spate of serious incidents that year.
A council official and residents in the surrounding apartments in Beach Rd captured video of fights resembling running battles, with large numbers of people outside BayLuck scrapping and spilling on to the street.
One video shows someone on the ground as several men lay into him.
Others show police holding the line but massively outnumbered, unable to intervene in various fights while they await reinforcements.
Residents complained to the council of constant noise, fights and a heavy gang presence.
Acting Sergeant Natalie Stringer of Auckland Police told the Auckland District Licensing Committee at the hearing this week she was among the first police officers to respond to the stabbing at BayLuck on New Year’s Day last year.
“The scene was chaotic,” Stringer said.
Officers spoke to security outside BayLuck, who were obstructive and closed the door on them, police said, refusing to allow access to the venue.
Upon arrival, Stringer saw one man who had been stabbed in the arm while another man had walked from the venue further down the road. The third stabbing victim had been taken to hospital by his friends. None of the victims had talked to police, she said.
Several times in 2022, Council licensing inspector James Leverett had staked out the venue in the early hours, recording notes of his observations and capturing videos.
His notes are detailed in a report that formed the core of Auckland Council’s opposition to BayLuck’s bid to renew its liquor licence.
At one visit, on September 4, he watched about 50 people leave BayLuck about 3am - its cut-off for serving alcohol - and spill on to the road, blocking traffic. Several fights broke out and Leverett called the cops.
“Police arrived, but the first van full of officers were severely outnumbered and so could not act,” he wrote.
As fights, vomiting and general mayhem continued over the next half an hour, Leverett saw a drunk man unsteady on his feet urinate next to a car, then get into a vehicle and try to drive off before abandoning the attempt.
He recorded similar scenes at other visits. On Saturday, October 8, he watched as a young couple left BayLuck and walked to some nearby steps.
“Moments later, the couple began engaging in full sexual intercourse while in a state of semi-undress,” his report said.
“This carried on for several minutes and would have been clearly visible to any member of the public who happened to walk past.”
On October 9, a car rolled past a group of patrons outside BayLuck.
Someone inside the vehicle opened fire, with shots hitting one person in the chest and arm. Investigations continue into this incident and the details remain murky.
On December 19 a resident filed a complaint to Auckland Council and a video of a massive fight outside BayLuck the previous evening that closed the venue early and was broken up by police.
“Police constantly have to attend. I live in the building across the road and we have experienced multiple assaults of residents from the customers or people exiting the BayLuck premises.”
Leverett was not the only one watching the venue.
Auckland City detectives had obtained intelligence suggesting a link between the bar and the drug trade.
Police swooped shortly after sunset on January 20 this year, executing a search warrant at BayLuck, when Hsiang-Yao (Ian) Hsu was duty manager.
Hsu and Son Cong (James) Nguyen at the time were co-owners and directors of BNA Group, the company trading as BayLuck since May 2020, records show.
Nguyen was not charged after the drug raid and there was no suggestion he was involved. But Leverett’s report raises concerns about his failure to declare a conviction for driving in excess of 150km/h.
During the raid, officers found a bag on a shelf containing seven point bags of a substance believed to be methamphetamine.
Inside that bag were keys to Hsu’s car. When officers searched the car they found a set of scales, a large quantity of empty snap-lock bags and $2000 in cash.
They also found 25g of cocaine in a back office in a container, and a Louis Vuitton handbag belonging to Kaixin Xu - a woman who was also working as a manager at BayLuck - containing cocaine and ecstasy pills.
Hsu, aged 38, was charged with possession of methamphetamine for supply, carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison. Xu, 31, was charged with possession for supply of ecstasy and cocaine.
They appeared before Judge Kevin Glubb at the Auckland District Court on Thursday, May 18, assisted by a Mandarin interpreter.
Their lawyer, Graeme Newell, told the court that police had agreed to downgrade their charges to simple possession, replacing a possible life sentence with a maximum penalty of three months in prison.
Hsu pleaded guilty to one charge of simple possession of methamphetamine.
Judge Glubb said it was likely Hsu, who has lived in New Zealand for 22 years and never previously been before the court, would lose his employment as a result of his conviction, and his duty manager’s licence would likely be in jeopardy.
The judge alluded to the fact that despite the downgraded charge, the police discovery was serious.
“The co-location of the cash, the snap-lock bags, the scales and the meth linked to you is very concerning for the court,” Judge Glubb said.
He fined Hsu $800 and ordered him to forfeit the $2000 cash.
The judge said Newell had done well by Hsu to reduce a possible life sentence to a fine and conviction.
“I think Mr Newell has done exceptional work for you to get you to the position you find yourself in today.”
Xu similarly pleaded guilty to amended charges of simple possession of cocaine and MDMA rather than supply.
Judge Glubb said Xu’s handbag contained 10 bags each containing between one and five ecstasy pills, and an Eclipse mint tin containing cocaine.
Newell sought a discharge without conviction.
He said Xu, who has lived in New Zealand since 2010, is on a partner’s work visa and Immigration New Zealand was of the view that because of the charge, she was not a fit person to remain in the country.
Newell produced an affidavit from an immigration lawyer and former Immigration NZ officer stating a conviction would likely result in a deportation notice, but this outcome could be avoided via a discharge without conviction.
Judge Glubb said he was satisfied a conviction would be out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending and granted the application for a discharge.
“You’ve got a lot to thank Mr Newell for, he’s pulled a rabbit out of a hat for you,” the judge said.
In the weeks after his conviction, Hsu resigned as both a shareholder and director of BNA Group, leaving Nguyen as the sole director.
Nguyen was not charged with any offence after the raid and is now its sole director and shareholder.
He appeared before the Auckland District Licensing Committee at a hearing on Monday where the company, represented by veteran barrister Jon Wiles, was seeking a renewal of its liquor licence. At the last minute, they abandoned their initial bid to extend the hours of the licence from 3am to 4am.
The hearing, held in the wood-panelled Council Chambers in Queen St in a cavernous room beneath portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, at times tended towards farce.
Nguyen was assisted by a Vietnamese interpreter, who sometimes struggled to make himself heard.
At one point, he was repeatedly asked if an outfit called Arby’s Entertainment had ongoing links with BayLuck.
Arby’s had already had flak from police and the council for events it had hosted in a venue in Princes Wharf - at one such event someone discharged a firearm inside and there were several fights - before it had moved its activities to BayLuck.
Posts on BayLuck’s social media pages showed ads for Arby’s “Red Flag Fridays” and “Strangle Me Saturdays”. The posts encouraged patrons to make “bad choices” at their “toxic” events and were cited by police and council in their opposition to the liquor licence.
Nguyen, via the interpreter, repeatedly said Arby’s last supplied staff three months ago and had last hosted an event two weeks ago.
But Senior Sergeant Jason Loye kept up the questioning, at which point an exasperated Nguyen replied, in significantly more fluent English than his interpreter, that he had already answered the question fully. This led to an incredulous response from committee chairman Gavin Campbell.
“It seems Mr Nguyen is displaying quite a profound ability to speak English?” he said. The hearing moved on.
Other answers provided by Nguyen via his interpreter and lawyer did not impress the committee.
They were questioned by committee member Richard Pamatatau about the discovery by police of 400 canisters of nitrous oxide (NOS) in a locked back room.
Pressured canisters of NOS are used both for dispensing whipped cream and as the source of a short-lived but heady high when inhaled from a balloon.
In this capacity they are known as “nangs”.
The spent canisters are a common site in the gutters around where students live or party, and at music festivals.
Asked about the canisters, Nguyen said they were used to whip cream to consume with chips.
“I’ve never heard of anyone using nitrous oxide to whip cream for chips before,” Pamatatau said.
Nguyen said, via the interpreter, that it was for providing staff meals.
Pamatatau, remaining deadpan, replied: “You must consume a lot of chips.”
In his brief opening remarks, Wiles said the incidence of disturbances outside BayLuck were now “largely in the past”.
He said BNA management believed the stabbing on New Year’s Day last year happened 130m from the premises and they believed it did not involve BayLuck patrons, despite police reports to the contrary.
Wiles conceded notification of managerial appointments had been lax but said a managers register was now kept.
He said recent noise complaints had been shown not to be justified and said photographic evidence of extensive litter around BayLuck captured by Leverett could not be proved to be from the venue.
Michael O’Flannigan, an Alcohol Licensing Inspector and Hearings Specialist at Auckland Council, said BayLuck had become a magnet for excessive noise, litter and other issues. He argued its application should be declined outright.
The venue had a “grotesque” effect on the amenity and good order of the area, had tried to shift the blame to other premises and had abrogated its management responsibilities, O’Flannigan said.
Acting Sergeant Stringer, in her evidence at the hearing, described a meeting she and Leverett had with Nguyen and Hsu towards the end of last year, where she said the directors had been arrogant and dismissive of concerns.
“This was the most disturbing meeting that I have ever attended in my five years in alcohol harm,” she said.
“This was cold, the licensees just did not want to seem to engage.”
Hsu barely spoke, she said.
“That was probably one of the most disturbing parts about it, he just sat there with a smirk on his face.”
The committee reserved its decision when the hearing finished on Monday afternoon. It will be released in writing in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the party continues at BayLuck.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
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