An Auckland businessman fighting deportation from New Zealand has now been convicted of money laundering after he advised a Ferrari-driving gangster how to send $388,800 in suspected drug money overseas.
Daniel Aperahama Hannett was the main target of Operation Weirton, which ended in March 2022 with the discovery of 613kg of methamphetamine: the country’s largest drug bust at the time.
While under surveillance by the police National Organised Crime Group, Hannett owned several valuable properties, a collection of 22 performance and luxury vehicles - including a Ferrari and a Lamborghini - and other assets estimated to be worth $7 million.
The patched Mongrel Mob member had the appearance of a legitimate business owner, but detectives suspected the true source of Hannett’s wealth was his knowledge of the freight industry to smuggle drugs into New Zealand.
Despite running for 18 months, Operation Weirton had not found evidence of Hannett being directly involved in importing drugs until the interception of the 613kg shipment.
The investigation had previous success, however, focusing on Hannett’s money laundering.
One of the dodgy transactions was the sale and purchase of a property he owned at a grossly inflated price to conceal the source of $5 million in cash.
Another transaction was the conversion of $388,800 in cash to 1.5 million in Chinese currency.
In a series of conversations that were covertly recorded by police in January 2022, Hannett was overheard discussing how to launder the cash with his close friend Hooi Keat Chai.
The pair had recently invested in a nightclub in Malaysia together, while Hannett was also a shareholder in a New Zealand petfood business with Chai’s wife.
Better known as Ben, Chai was also the project manager for renovations at a brothel recently established by Hannett in downtown Auckland.
In the conversations bugged by police, Hannett told Chai he would give $1 million to a mutual associate to launder.
The pair also discussed the fluctuation of exchange rates with China and Malaysia, with Chai advising Hannett that the precise timing of handing the cash to their associate did not matter.
Surveillance teams saw Hannett meet with Chai at a cafe in Newmarket, before Hannett took a black duffel bag to their associate who lived in an apartment in downtown Auckland.
There was $388,800 inside the duffel bag, according to WeChat messages on Hannett’s phone later obtained by police.
In April, Hannett pleaded guilty to the two counts of money laundering, importing a Class-A drug, unlawful possession of firearms, and possession of nearly 22g of MDMA.
A sentencing date has not been set.
Chai was charged as a party to money laundering in relation to the $388,800 transaction and recently convicted following a trial.
He is due to be sentenced next month.
Regardless of whether Chai is sent to prison or a term of home detention, he will most likely be removed from New Zealand as soon as the sentence is served.
The Herald can now reveal that Chai has been fighting deportation for years after being convicted of immigration fraud.
The Malaysian citizen first arrived at Auckland International Airport in October 2003 with a passport in the name of Kok Tong Chai.
Chai was granted a visitor’s visa but remained in the country unlawfully once it expired, until his departure in June 2005.
A few months later, he changed his name by deed poll in Malaysia to Hooi Keat Chai and was issued a new passport in that name.
In November 2005, Chai returned to New Zealand and was granted a visitor visa in his new name - failing to disclose his previous name.
In February 2009, Chai applied for a work visa. On doing so, he supplied a work reference letter that falsely stated that he had worked for a construction company in Malaysia between 2003 and 2005.
This concealed his previously unlawful time in New Zealand under a different name.
He was later granted permanent residence, and built a successful life for his family running a construction firm that subcontracted to industry giants.
But Chai’s backstory unravelled when his business, Team NZ Constructions Ltd, was one of 10 companies targeted by Immigration NZ in Operation Spectrum, an investigation to disrupt the flow of illegal workers from Malaysia.
Nearly 200 illegal workers were either deported, fled New Zealand or stopped at the border following the six-month inquiry in 2017.
Many had registered companies in New Zealand, then recruited other unlawful workers as plasterers, painters, tilers or carpenters.
They worked as third-tier subcontractors, below the radar of developers and site managers, and were paid $20 to $40 an hour in cash.
By paying no tax, those running the underground crews were able to win contracts by undercutting the bids of legitimate competitors.
More recently, the construction industry - along with horticulture and hospitality - have been identified as “high risk” sectors because paying wages in cash is an effective method of money laundering.
At an eventual trial in 2018, Chai was acquitted of charges relating to the unlawful labour element of Operation Spectrum.
But he was convicted of supplying false information to obtain the work visa, as well as using the fraudulent visa at the border three times, and sentenced to six months’ home detention.
As a result of committing immigration fraud, Chai was served with a deportation notice in June 2022.
He appealed the deportation notice to the Immigration Protection Tribunal (IPT) on humanitarian grounds, given that his wife is now a New Zealand resident and their two children were born here.
Although the IPT agreed that a significant burden would be placed on his wife and children, the panel ruled that allowing Chai to stay would seriously undermine the integrity of the immigration system.
“It was a serious matter that [Chai] was granted a temporary work visa based on his concealment of his previous identity. This fraud led him to obtaining a resident visa, [his wife] obtaining a resident visa based on her partnership with him, and the children acquiring New Zealand citizenship,” according to the IPT ruling.
“Weighing the offending (immigration offences involving dishonesty) against the exceptional humanitarian circumstances, the Tribunal is satisfied that it is not unjust or unduly harsh for the appellant to be deported from New Zealand.”
Now 41, Chai went on to appeal the IPT decision to the High Court, then the Court of Appeal last year, but the ruling was upheld on both occasions.
Damon Treadaway, National Manager Compliance (Acting) for Immigration New Zealand confirmed in a statement Chai is still liable for deportation.
“To hold a New Zealand visa you must meet immigration requirements, including being of good character” Treadway said.
“Migrants convicted of criminal offending and sentenced to imprisonment or home detention, may be liable for deportation once they have finished their sentence.
“Immigration New Zealand works with Corrections and other agencies on the next steps for the person, when the person is approaching the end of their sentence.”
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.