Maori-owned land in Rotorua which was used as a base to deal methamphetamine could be confiscated by the Crown in a New Zealand first.
The Crown wants two adjoining properties on Ngongotaha Rd seized under the Criminal Proceedings Recovery Act after the occupant, 64-year-old Graeme Lewis Williams, pleaded guilty to the possession, supply and manufacture of methamphetamine (P).
The case has huge ramifications for Maori according to a lawyer representing Williams' estranged wife. The wife is fighting the forfeiture on the basis she is the only beneficiary and Williams was an occupant only, without any control over the land.
Martin Hine told The Daily Post the case had attracted a great deal of local and national interest.
"There has been no other case involving Maori land [held in an] Ahu Whenua Trust which has come under this [Criminal Procedure Recovery] act," he said.
"When was the last time Maori land was tried to be seized like this?"
The properties were placed in an Ahu Whenua Trust in the Maori Land Court and classified as General Land Owned by Maori. Williams was appointed as a trustee, along with his estranged wife Ngarawa Williams and their children.
A forfeiture hearing which began in the High Court at Rotorua this week has been adjourned, part-heard, until May 5, to allow the Crown and Mrs Williams' lawyer Martin Hine to make further submissions.
If the Crown is successful, it would be the first time Maori-owned land has been seized under the Criminal Proceedings Recovery Act [CPRA] and the Sentencing Amendment Act which was passed in 2009 and allows for a property to be seized if considered an "instrument of crime".
Williams has pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine for supply, supplying methamphetamine, a joint charge of manufacturing methamphetamine, a joint and individual charge of supplying a precursor substance to manufacture the class A drug, conspiring to supply the drug and possessing a precursor substance for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The charges are representative of offences that took place between March and October 2009 and were uncovered as part of police's major drug bust, Operation Atlas. A date is yet to be set for his sentencing.
At the forfeiture hearing before Justice Peter Woodhouse, Crown prosecutor Sarah-Louise Tapsell said the land changed to General Land Owned by Maori in the Maori Land Court 2004 so the Williams family could take out a mortgage. It is a category title under the Maori Land Act which allows owners to mortgage the land.
"A mortgage was obtained and was used to raise funds to buy out the other beneficiary owners," she said.
Mrs Tapsell submitted that Williams had interest and effective control of the two properties, which was why the Crown was seeking forfeiture.
"He had in place an order of occupancy which [Mrs Williams] couldn't come on to the property, he was paying the mortgage and had the power to subdivide or work on the land," she said.
"The fact that the trust exists doesn't bind any prohibition to the forfeiture of the land.
"It does not bar interest to a third party, namely the Crown, to forfeit it as it was used as an instrument of crime.
"If the mortgage payments defaulted there would be no bar on the mortgagee selling the land ... it's the same with the Crown."
Mrs Tapsell said the Criminal Proceedings Recovery Act made no reference to exclude Maori land in its definition of properties. While it might be considered harsh to the innocent parties - Mrs Williams and her children - it was a penalty for such offending, she submitted.
"He has used the property extensively in his own drug dealing business and has used it in such a way that was far from fleeting. The act is meant to be harsh and it is the offender who put his property at risk which may result in the consequences of forfeiture."
Mr Hine said all Maori land came through the Treaty of Waitangi and was dealt with in a "special and different way", which the court should recognise.
"It is treated with different laws than European land and General Land Owned by Maori carries with it that flavour, that distinction."
Mrs Williams was the only beneficiary, therefore the only one with interest in the property.
"As a trustee [Mr Williams] doesn't have any interest in the land, he has the right to live there but is not a beneficial owner," Mr Hine said.
To be a beneficiary of land under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, a person needed to be defined as Maori and be able to prove their whakapapa [family lineage].
"Mr Williams is not Maori and there has been no evidence to suggest he is," Mr Hine said.
"The trust is not a family trust, the supervisory body is the Maori Land Court which is quite unique. The Ahu Whenua Trust protects the integrity of the land and ensures it stays in the family.
"This [forfeiture] represents no loss to Mr Williams but represents a huge loss to Mrs Williams and the family ... They've already suffered the loss of their father and are now facing the loss of their family home."
Maori Land Confiscation
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