Funds from stolen crayfish paid gang mortgage
Paul Faavaoga, 36, was arrested following the termination of police's "Operation Larry" in January and yesterday admitted receiving more than a tonne of stolen seafood worth nearly $200,000.
The defendant appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to 29 charges of receiving and two of money laundering.
The King Cobras' David St pad, raided by police and Fisheries officers in the co-ordinated sting, was being financed by Faavaoga, court documents revealed.
He had been paying the mortgage on the property for a significant period and investigators found almost a quarter of the repayments during a three-year span had been funded by the sale of stolen crayfish.
Between April and September last year, Faavaoga would place "orders" with a staff member at Fiordland Lobster Company who worked at the Sawyers Bay packing factory.
A police summary noted the requests for the delicacy were sometimes made several times a week, usually involving 60-80 live crays.
On August 5, Faavaoga asked for 110 and even noted in a message to his associate: "our biggest order to date".
He requested the stolen crayfish be packed in woodwool and ice and he would pick them up from the insider's home.
Over just five months, the defendant received 1274 crays, over 26 occasions, worth an estimated $196,600.
Court documents said Faaavaoga would usually pay his contact in cash but made bank transfers a couple of times.
While the method of acquisition may have been shady, the distribution was above board — and easy for authorities to track.
Faavaoga transported most of the crayfish to Dunedin Airport and would complete airway cargo declaration paperwork to have the haul airfreighted to associates around the country.
The recipients would usually pay for the stolen seafood by bank transfer, referenced as "crays".
In August, Faavaoga visited a car yard in Kaikorai Valley Rd where he agreed to buy a 2013 Subaru Legacy, funded, at least in part, by the illegally obtained funds.
He paid $6000 cash and the remaining $4345 by bank transfer, the court heard.
At the court hearing yesterday, counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner highlighted the fact her client only had driving crimes to his name. The defendant was working and had two children in his care part-time, she said.
Judge Emma Smith remanded Faavaoga on bail and ordered a report to consider the viability of home detention.
Sentencing will take place in September.
The co-defendant, a 49-year-old Dunedin woman who faces 33 charges of theft in a special relationship and one of money laundering and possessing Ritalin, has not yet entered pleas and will appear in court again next month.
rob.kidd@odt.co.nz
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