A large amount of crypto currency was among the $4 million worth of possessions stolen from a safe in an upmarket Auckland suburb. Photo / 123rf
A large amount of crypto currency was among the $4 million worth of possessions stolen from a safe in an upmarket Auckland suburb. Photo / 123rf
The private investigator who worked on the case into the stolen safe containing $4m of cryptocurrency, money, jewellery and family heirlooms is pleased charges have been laid against two people.
Police confirmed the charges today relating to the 2021 heist targeting the home of Mark and Clare Geor in theupmarket Auckland suburb of Westmere.
Mike Campbell was praised by Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton for supplying “a raft of information” to the Auckland City Financial Crime Unit.
Campbell, who is also a friend of the Geor family, told the Herald he was glad to see the arrests.
“We appreciate the effort the police have put into this investigation and thank the NZ Herald for their involvement,“ Campbell said.
“These cases are never easy. It took old fashioned detective work and forensic expertise for this result.”
Mark and Clare Geor had $4 million worth of Bitcoin and another valuables stolen from a safe.Two people have been charged of money laundering after a four-year investigation. Photo / Supplied
Mark Geor, who manages Rock and Rubble, a quarry transporting service declined to comment.
In his only interview with Weekend Herald in 2021, Geor said his family home was burgled while it was being renovated.
A month before the raiders stole the safe, the Geor family had moved to Takapuna.
“We have lived there since 2017 and never had an issue. This burglary was executed with surgical precision,” he said.
On September 9, 2021, when Geor went to the Westmere house to collect the mail.
He said he had a “hunch” when he noticed a pillow in a wheelbarrow.
The house had been broken into after burglars entered through a side door, where there were no security cameras. Geor noticed the front and side doors were unlocked, the alarm was disarmed and the safe was gone.
“When I realised the front door and side doors were unlocked, I thought, ‘S***, this isn’t good,’” Geor said.
“They turned off the power and disarmed my alarm and back-up battery. The electrical switchboard, control box for the alarm was in the same room as the safe. If you set the alarm there is a wee delay before it goes off, it looks like they were able to shut it off pretty quickly, so they knew what they were doing.”
All that was left behind was a small crowbar, an electrician’s screwdriver and glove prints. Forensic experts were unable to obtain fingerprints or footprints because of the concrete floors.
Four years ago, Geor said he was a “realist” and wasn’t hopeful about getting the safe back.
In November 2021, he offered a $50,000 reward in exchange for its return with the cryptocurrency - on a USB - and other valuables, including $10,000 in cash, Rolex and Tag Hauer watches, diamond jewellery and family heirlooms.
Mark Geor offered a $50,000 reward in 2021 in exchange for the stolen safe which contained $4million of cryptocurrency. Photo / Supplied.
Photos supplied by Clare Geor.
Campbell previously told the Herald the substantial reward was an appeal to the culprits to return all the contents from the safe.
“We’ve been down a couple of paths but they’ve fizzled out,” he said.
“One of the dangers of this, you get people ringing up who are economical with the truth which is all part of the process. Someone out there knows something,” Campbell said.
Earlier this week police swarmed a rural property in Wellsford North of Auckland.
Bolton today said the victims engaged a private investigator who collected a raft of information to hand over to the Auckland City Financial Crime Unit.
That gave investigating officers a good starting point about what had happened with the cryptocurrency, and a line of inquiry.
“Detective Oliver Moss chipped away at the case over many months, and this soon identified the person we will allege is responsible for the crime.”
The team, led by Detective Sergeant Ali Ramsay, with support from tactical Police staff and the Auckland Cyber Crime Unit, arrested a 31-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman.
The man has been charged with the 2021 burglary and has been jointly charged with the woman on four counts of money laundering $4m in cryptocurrency.
Police also seized electronic items for further investigation.
Bolton said the investigation highlights “new investigative possibilities with digital forensic evidence”.
Geor previously said he couldn’t claim insurance for the cryptocurrency he has lost.
“There is no such thing as insurance. I am gutted despite the money, I feel stupid for having all my possessions in there. There is nothing fair or reasonable about this, I just want my stuff.”
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards. Recently she was runner-up for Best Editorial Campaign and part of a team that won Best Coverage of a Major News Event: Philip Polkinghorne Murder Trial. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
