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.
Oct 15, 2020 at 9:16 a.m. UTCUpdated Aug 19, 2021 at 5:01 a.m. UTC
:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindeskuat/E46Z3KTLVFGQ5KTYI2PVN57C7A.jpg)
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.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
13:18
Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
05:10
Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
04:07
The first video of the year 2024
40:07
The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
:format(webp)/downloads.coindesk.com/arc/failsafe/user/1x1.png)