Pawnbrokers angry at being caught up in sting

Rob Burgess says there are two sides to every story. Photo / Dean Purcell

The married couple charged with receiving $600,000 worth of stolen goods as part of an Auckland-wide police sting of burglars and pawnbrokers say they will vigorously defend the criminal allegations.

Police allege stolen property such as melted gold, diamonds and luxury watches was found at the home of Rob Burgess, 51, and Llannys Burgess, 50, who appeared this week in the Waitakere District Court.

The couple run a secondhand jewellery and antique store in Avondale and were also charged with a number of breaches of the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act, some for allegedly failing to verify the details of sellers.

The Burgesses say that the charges were completely blown out of proportion and there were two sides to every story.

Rob Burgess said that police had seized nearly all of his money and jewellery from his shop and home - including the couple's wedding rings.

"We've been married for more than 30 years so of course I don't have the receipt. It makes my blood boil."

The couple said all the property was purchased legitimately and would prove it in court. They said the stockpile of gold was an investment from an insurance payout several years ago - ironically when the shop was burgled.

When asked if they knew if sellers were dealing in stolen goods, Burgess said: "You don't know who the burglars are. We were taking the details down of the sellers, even from the undercover cops. We have people hounding us, saying, 'We're short on money, please buy this from us'. Perhaps we were a bit naive."

The couple were also angry with being linked to the drugs trade by association after police announced more than 18kg of cannabis had been found in the Operation Castle raids.

"I haven't smoked a joint in 20 years," said Rob Burgess.

The couple were arrested and charged last week with receiving the stolen goods as part of Operation Castle, which netted cannabis, cash, jewellery, drugs, televisions, stereos, laptops, cellphones, camcorders, firearms and $300,000 of expensive watches.

Court documents show the couple were allegedly buying goods from Lisa Love, who is also facing criminal charges.

Love is facing three charges of receiving, from Jeremy Wallace, a Subaru Impreza worth $18,000, jewellery worth $8000 and electronics worth $1370.

She has also been charged with breaking into Murrays Bay Primary School on the North Shore.

Wallace lives at the same Mt Wellington address as Love and has been charged with breaking into four Auckland addresses.

Love and Wallace were among the 47 arrests over two days in the Operation Castle swoop on second-hand dealers - and on known burglars.

Detective Inspector Greg Cramer said last week that gold had doubled in price by US$600 an ounce to US$1200 over the past three years.

"Gold has been the item of choice for many burglars recently. Generally such items are relatively small, portable and provide a high return.

"When it comes to gold jewellery, it would appear that some dealers have knowingly been buying it, melting it down and on-selling to gold bullion traders, in defiance of their statutory obligations.

"Traders should always question why a customer has melted gold product to sell, particularly if there's a regular supply from that customer."

Police had been analysing intelligence and carrying out surveillance over six months. Of the 858 licensed second-hand dealers in the Auckland region, 115 had raised police concerns.

"The huge variety of goods turned up is probably a clear indication that drug crime, burglary and dishonesty are linked," Mr Cramer said. "I think the operation will have created quite a dent."

He said burglars had to have avenues of disposal for goods they stole.

"What we have done here is really choked the avenues for disposal."

Mr Cramer said 94 breaches of the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act were detected, and police were yet to decide whether further arrests would be made. Some breaches were minor and technical.