Men cleared of money laundering

Two men have been acquitted of money laundering after a retrial in the Rotorua District Court.

At the end of a seven day trial a jury today found Valentine Barclay Nicholas, Maketu, and a Rotorua man whose name remains suppressed in the meantime, not guilty; they were discharged by Judge Glen Marshall.

Nicholas was charged with laundering $93,000 of "dirty money" so he could use it to buy a hunting block near Opotiki.

The other man had been charged with recklessly engaging in a money laundering transaction that was the proceeds of serious crime.

The charges covered a period between August 30 and September 25, 2006.

A jury in the same court was unable to reach verdicts when the men appeared before them last May.

The Crown alleged the money had come from cannabis sales.

Outside the court Nicholas said the two prosecutions had been a "huge" waste of taxpayers' money and resources.

"It's felt like a personal vendetta against me," he said.

The other man refused to comment.

His lawyer, Jonathan Temm, is to argue later in the week that his client's name remains permanently suppressed.