The money was discovered by an electrician working in the roof space. Photo / Deposit Photos
A young couple who found more than $232,000 worth of suspected drug money hidden in the roof space of their house will be allowed to keep $40,000 of it.
The cash, vacuum packed in five plastic wrappers, was discovered in the Christchurch house in May 2022, five months after the couple bought the property.
They needed some electrical work done, and the electrician climbed into the roof space.
When he lifted the ceiling insulation, in the furthest part of the roof from the manhole he used to gain access, he found the five sealed plastic bags.
The electrician passed the money to the homeowners who, recognising that it may have come from drug-dealing, did the right thing and called police.
The police responded by obtaining a restraining order under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009, on the grounds that the money was likely to have been obtained from illegal activity.
They then sought to have all of the money forfeited to the Crown, under the law which seeks to separate criminals from their ill-gotten gains.
The couple asked the High Court to let them keep the money, on the basis that they were not criminals and any link the money had to crime was broken when, as innocent parties, they bought the property.
In a High Court decision issued by Justice Robert Osborne today, the couple will be allowed to keep $40,000.
The rest will be handed over to the Crown.
Justice Osborne’s decision includes an order suppressing the names of the couple.
They are given the pseudonyms Geoffrey Cahill and Miranda Williams in the published decision.
The couple wanted to remain anonymous because they feared that someone might come after the money if their names or the address of the house were publicised.
The cash – $232,440 to be precise – was mainly in $50 notes, but there was also about $20,000 in $20 notes and a handful of $10 and $100 notes.
Judging by the dust on the packages, it had been there some time.
Those involved in the couple’s case agreed the money most likely came from drug dealing, but although investigators have worked out it was hidden in the roof space about six or seven years ago, who put it there remains a mystery.
Inquiries with the Reserve Bank established that the notes were issued between May 2016 and October 2018, and there were 63 different issue codes on them.
This meant the cash was collected from a wide range of sources but in a relatively short space of time, and the way it was bundled up suggested it had been gained from drug dealing.
Police believe the money was placed in the roof space “shortly after 2018″.
Police made inquiries with the previous owner of the house, a family trust, and found out who the tenants were before the couple bought the property.
None of the tenants said they had any knowledge of the money, nor did any of them have a criminal history which suggested they may have acquired it illicitly.
One person who was the beneficiary of the family trust did have a conviction for possession of cannabis, and known connections to the Mongrel Mob.
However, this person has since died, and his brother said it was unlikely he visited the house. He may not even have been aware it was owned by the family trust.
Justice Osborne said the police and the couple had originally conducted the case in a “binary way” – with the police seeking to forfeit all of the money, and the couple wanting it all returned.
“The highly unusual feature of this case lies in the fact the interested persons are wholly innocent citizens who discovered the cash and handed it to the police,” Justice Osborne said.
“But for their locating the cash in the first place and then handing it in, there would be no cash available to the Crown.”
Justice Osborne said neither party’s position was sustainable, and they had now reached a settlement.
In the end, the police accepted that the couple had “done the right thing” by notifying police of the cash, and had been stressed by the risk that the true owner might return for it.
They had also incurred the cost of alterations to their home as a direct consequence of the discovery of the cash.
The judge said that none of the aims of the criminal proceeds forfeiture regime would be thwarted by a settlement which would see more than 80% of the funds vested in the Crown.
Justice Osborne ordered the $232,440 cash located in the roof space at the property, plus accrued interest, be forfeited.
However, he also ordered the Crown to pay back the couple $40,000.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.