Police bust thriller book scam at Auckland International Airport, $20,000 stashed between pages

Hidden cash was intercepted just in time, with the pensioner reunited with his money. Photo / New Zealand Police

A last-minute bid to prevent a small fortune hidden between pages of thrillers from leaving New Zealand has seen a “significant” international scam thwarted in nail-bitingly close fashion.

Police say the dramatic incident unfolded after an elderly man turned up to the Gore station “speaking in code” and convinced by an “overseas-based detective” of a grand conspiracy between Gore police and a local bank.

The pensioner told an officer he had received a phone call from a person claiming to be a police officer investigating counterfeit currency being produced by the man’s bank.

Part of the small fortune caught in the nick of time at Auckland International Airport by police. Photo / New Zealand Police

After asking the elderly man to read the serial numbers of cash in his wallet, the bogus investigator told him they were fake and he would need the man to withdraw a large amount of cash, hide the bills within the pages of books and courier them to a London address for further investigation.

The man revealed he had followed the instructions and had packaged up two novels with $20,000 in notes slipped between the pages and couriered the previous day.

“Alarm bells were well and truly going off in my mind at this point and when he told me he had withdrawn $20,000, I knew we had a significant scam on our hands,” Sergeant Eric Browne said.

Notes hidden between pages of books as part of attempted money scam, foiled by Gore police. Photo / New Zealand Police

The officer then moved quickly to save the man’s money, that was now heading to the United Kingdom slotted neatly in between the pages of Clive Cussler’s Sea of Greed and James Rollins’ Amazonia.

“We had to act fast, so I immediately got his tracking number, saw that it would be going out through Auckland International Airport, and reached out to the International Mail Centre there,” Browne said.

“It turns out the boss there was a detective for 30 years, and he assured me he would do all he could to get this package.

“But it really was going to be a close call to catch it in time.”

Browne said there were three cargo crates going on the plane that the Gore pensioner’s package was inside.

“The first two had been loaded on already, and with a last-ditch search in the third crate, this man’s package was found right at the very bottom.”

“It was like something out of a Hollywood script.”

Browne said the package was intercepted just in time, with the pensioner reunited with his money.

Investigations were now continuing with the overseas address to track down those behind the scam.