A finance firm and its mother and son operators have had their appeal dismissed after attempting to overturn millions of dollars in court-ordered fines.
Their firm, Jiaxin Finance, failed to report $53.4 million of suspicious transactions from an international mogul accused of running a huge pyramid scheme.
The 2019 trial of Jiaxin Finance, its sole director and shareholder Qiang Fu and his mother, Fuqin Che, was the first criminal case of its kind in New Zealand's courts since specific anti-money laundering laws were introduced in 2009.
Fu and Che were prosecuted by the Department of Internal Affairs and found guilty by Justice Tracey Walker of failing to keep adequate records for and report 311 suspicious transactions between April 2015 and May 2016.
On conviction in the Auckland High Court, Jiaxin Finance was sentenced to pay a fine of $2.55m.