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New Zealand Man Charged With Money Laundering via Crypto and Luxury Cars

As well as making cryptocurrency transactions, the man is alleged to have bought luxury cars and property to launder funds.

By Sebastian Sinclair
AccessTimeIconOct 15, 2020 at 9:16 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:09 a.m. UTC
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A 40-year-old man from Auckland, New Zealand, faces a wave of charges for money laundering via allegedly shady cryptocurrency transactions and luxury car purchases.

  • According to reports by the NZHerald, the man, granted interim anonymity after he appeared at the Auckland District Court on Thursday, faces 30 charges in all.
  • He is alleged to have received thousands of New Zealand dollars to buy cryptocurrency as part of transactions intended for money laundering, per the reporting.
  • Other charges allege the man laundered funds via the purchase of high-end vehicles including NZ$421,000 (US$279,687) for a Lamborghini and around NZ$288,888 (US$191,919) for a Mercedes G63.
  • NZ$1.7 million (US$1.12 million) is claimed to have been used to launder money through a property in East Auckland.
  • He is further alleged to have laundered money received from an individual at Auckland Airport earlier this year, as well as obtaining over a million dollars from a bank using a false identity.
  • The charges come after an asset-seizure operation from the police dubbed "Operation Brookings" involving numerous officers and a number of search warrants.
  • In total, the operation netted seven high-end luxury vehicles and three properties worth an estimated $3.3 million (US$2.19 million) in total.
  • Five other people have been arrested and stand accused of being involved in the laundering scheme.

See also: New Zealand Police Seize $90M Linked to Alleged BTC-e Exchange Operator

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