NZ man arrested over $450m crypto scam
The group is alleged to have stolen about $450m worth of cryptocurrency.
A Wellington man has been arrested as part of an FBI investigation into an organised criminal group which is alleged to have stolen cryptocurrency valued at $450 million.
Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard said 13 people faced charges, after search warrants were executed in Auckland, Wellington, and California.
The man was arrested by the Financial Crime Group in Auckland, one of several people taken into custody following the search warrants, but the only one from New Zealand.
It is alleged that between March and August 2024, the cryptocurrency was obtained by fraud, namely, by manipulating seven victims, and subsequently laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms.
The New Zealander had been indicted by the US Department of Justice under US Federal law with charges of racketeering (RICO), conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
It is alleged that the defendants scammed seven victims, spending the stolen virtual currency to purchase, among other things, $9 million of exotic cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, watches and clothing, nightclub services and private security guards and rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami.
The New Zealander was bailed after appearing in the Auckland District Court on Friday where he received interim name suppression, and is due to reappear in the Auckland District Court on 3 July.
"We have worked closely with our law enforcement colleagues in the United States in support of their investigation," Barnard said.
"Today's search warrant and arrest reflects the importance of international partnerships where criminals are operating across borders."
He said police would be making no further comment, as this was an ongoing investigation.
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Article – RNZ A Fijian abuse survivor is urging the new head of the Catholic church to adopt a zero tolerance policy for child sex abuse. Susana Suisuiki, Pacific Waves presenter/producer A Fijian abuse survivor is urging the new head of the Catholic church to adopt a zero tolerance policy for child sex abuse. Felix Fremlin was seven years old when he was molested by a New Zealand Marist Brother at his primary school in Suva. Although he had received a written apology and FJD$15,000 (approx US$6,680) in financial compensation from the Marist Brothers Order of New Zealand and the Pacific, Fremlin said it's not enough. Speaking to Pacific Waves, Fremlin said culture and faith prevents many people in the Pacific from speaking out. 'It's a Pacific island thing, everybody looks upon the church as messengers of God, and so for people to talk about it… it's a taboo thing,' he said. Seeking mental health support is also a struggle for Fremlin. 'So here, we don't have any specialists where survivors can go to for counselling. The church here has offered counselling but the counsellors here belong to the church itself. So when you go for counselling, you report back to the church.' Fremlin also expressed his dissatisfaction over Pope Leo's appointment as the new pontiff, claiming the former cardinal had allegedly concealed abuse cases of three women while he served as a bishop in Peru in 2022. However, Fremlin said the onus is now on Pope Leo to stand with abuse survivors, calling for him to enact the zero tolerance law. An earlier attempt was done in November 2024 when former Jesuit priest, Reverand Hans Zollner, joined abuse survivors at a press conference in Rome urging Pope Francis to apply the zero-tolerance law throughout the entire 1.4 billion-member church. The law would effectively remove any priests guilty of abuse from the ministry. For Fremlin, it's about taking concrete steps in protecting the most vulnerable. 'When survivors tried to seek or converse with the church, the church gives them the runaround, and always the lawyers,' he said. 'My experience in Fiji is that they bring up the lawyers and then they hide behind the lawyers you know, so I wish the pope would come on this – it's just something that he can put into law that the survivors can go to, without the church giving them the runarounds.' In a statement sent to RNZ Pacific, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference said significant work has been undertaken to 'promote a culture of awareness and vigilance'. An immediate risk assessment is carried out once a complainant in New Zealand comes forward. Any risk identified would result in the accused priest to step down. For those convicted of abuse, the conference said the policies in place would permanently remove them from the ministry. The conference also said that abuse survivors can seek a mental health counsellor of their choice. 'If they don't have already a counsellor, the church can provide them a list of counsellors to choose from – with some or all being people without ties to the church.' Even if Pope Leo was to eventually adopt a zero-tolerance policy, Fremlin said it'll do little to restore his faith in the church. 'It's like asking the cow to jump over the moon. It's very hard for [the survivors] to come out openly. 'We're just hoping for something concrete you know, written in black and white, that states they're doing something about it.' Pacific survivors deserve more justice – advocate A long-standing advocate of Pacific abuse survivors said they deserve more justice. Dr Murray Heasley, who was instrumental in Fremlin's case, said the payout that Fremlin and his brother John received is 'outrageous'. 'It's about dignity; it's about human rights,' he said. 'How can you be paying a fraction of the money to a Fijian survivor abused by a New Zealander in Fiji, particularly if you take into consideration some of the notion of the colonial background and the assumption of superiority of Western culture at the time… The colonial mentality seems to still be in place. 'If you happen to be a Fijian survivor that got sexually molested by a New Zealander, you're worth less as a human being? Than a Pasifika abused in New Zealand? Why the differentiation? 'It's absolutely outrageous and it has to be revisited now. The FMS Marist Brothers have massive resources.' The New Zealand Bishop Conference said each case that the church considers is unique and so is each response. Part of the response can include an ex gratia payment to a survivor as part of the 'healing process'. However, they also said that 'comparisons cannot be made between different cases across the various components of each process'. 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For many religious orders, the Pacific is part of the same province as New Zealand. 'There is no record of any of the nine men about whom [McKenzie] enquired being accused of abuse before the order of diocese appointed to them to the Pacific. Allegations against some were not received until after their death.' As for Pope Leo's alleged handling of abuse cases in Peru, Heasley said he's concerned. 'We've seen pushback from people inside the Catholic Church calling these women 'liars'. It's an astonishing thing where you have so-called advocates of women's voices, the silence of women's voices coming in behind the pope who they see as a fellow Peruvian because he has joint citizenship.' He said canon lawyer Brendan Daly has called the sexual abuse of children the greatest threat to the Catholic church. 'None of these folks are dealing with this, and even to this point, with this new pope has yet to say anything except to deny the accusation. He has not reached out to sexual survivors, and without that, he is not an acceptable pope.' The New Zealand Catholic Bishop Conference said there are many first-hand reports 'including from victims and survivors of abuse' that have shared their appreciation for how well then-Bishop Prevost handled the cases in Peru. 'He played a pivotal role in having a religious community shut down – which is a rare and severe course of action,' the statement read.
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Call For Pope Leo To Issue Abuse Zero Tolerance Policy
A Fijian abuse survivor is urging the new head of the Catholic church to adopt a zero tolerance policy for child sex abuse. Felix Fremlin was seven years old when he was molested by a New Zealand Marist Brother at his primary school in Suva. Although he had received a written apology and FJD$15,000 (approx US$6,680) in financial compensation from the Marist Brothers Order of New Zealand and the Pacific, Fremlin said it's not enough. Speaking to Pacific Waves, Fremlin said culture and faith prevents many people in the Pacific from speaking out. "It's a Pacific island thing, everybody looks upon the church as messengers of God, and so for people to talk about it... it's a taboo thing," he said. Seeking mental health support is also a struggle for Fremlin. "So here, we don't have any specialists where survivors can go to for counselling. The church here has offered counselling but the counsellors here belong to the church itself. So when you go for counselling, you report back to the church." Fremlin also expressed his dissatisfaction over Pope Leo's appointment as the new pontiff, claiming the former cardinal had allegedly concealed abuse cases of three women while he served as a bishop in Peru in 2022. However, Fremlin said the onus is now on Pope Leo to stand with abuse survivors, calling for him to enact the zero tolerance law. An earlier attempt was done in November 2024 when former Jesuit priest, Reverand Hans Zollner, joined abuse survivors at a press conference in Rome urging Pope Francis to apply the zero-tolerance law throughout the entire 1.4 billion-member church. The law would effectively remove any priests guilty of abuse from the ministry. For Fremlin, it's about taking concrete steps in protecting the most vulnerable. "When survivors tried to seek or converse with the church, the church gives them the runaround, and always the lawyers," he said. "My experience in Fiji is that they bring up the lawyers and then they hide behind the lawyers you know, so I wish the pope would come on this - it's just something that he can put into law that the survivors can go to, without the church giving them the runarounds." In a statement sent to RNZ Pacific, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference said significant work has been undertaken to "promote a culture of awareness and vigilance". An immediate risk assessment is carried out once a complainant in New Zealand comes forward. Any risk identified would result in the accused priest to step down. For those convicted of abuse, the conference said the policies in place would permanently remove them from the ministry. The conference also said that abuse survivors can seek a mental health counsellor of their choice. "If they don't have already a counsellor, the church can provide them a list of counsellors to choose from - with some or all being people without ties to the church." Even if Pope Leo was to eventually adopt a zero-tolerance policy, Fremlin said it'll do little to restore his faith in the church. "It's like asking the cow to jump over the moon. It's very hard for [the survivors] to come out openly. "We're just hoping for something concrete you know, written in black and white, that states they're doing something about it." Pacific survivors deserve more justice - advocate A long-standing advocate of Pacific abuse survivors said they deserve more justice. Dr Murray Heasley, who was instrumental in Fremlin's case, said the payout that Fremlin and his brother John received is "outrageous". "It's about dignity; it's about human rights," he said. "How can you be paying a fraction of the money to a Fijian survivor abused by a New Zealander in Fiji, particularly if you take into consideration some of the notion of the colonial background and the assumption of superiority of Western culture at the time... The colonial mentality seems to still be in place. "If you happen to be a Fijian survivor that got sexually molested by a New Zealander, you're worth less as a human being? Than a Pasifika abused in New Zealand? Why the differentiation? "It's absolutely outrageous and it has to be revisited now. The FMS Marist Brothers have massive resources." The New Zealand Bishop Conference said each case that the church considers is unique and so is each response. Part of the response can include an ex gratia payment to a survivor as part of the 'healing process'. However, they also said that "comparisons cannot be made between different cases across the various components of each process". Last year, New Zealand journalist Pete McKenzie broke the story in the New York Times of how the Pacific was used as a 'dumping ground' for accused priests. Heasley said it was a 'standard procedure'. "It's extremely common to shift predators around. It was called the geographic cure. It didn't cure anything. "The worst predators were those who were fluent in the local language, Fiji and Samoan and Tongan, because parents trusted them. They used the language to predate and groom." The New Zealand Catholic Bishop's Conference responded with a statement they had issued last year in response to McKenzie's story. "We were given 10 or 11 specific names and NONE had any record of allegations of abuse before they were assigned to ministry in the Pacific. It was anything but 'common practice', the statement said. "Catholic priests and religious [orders] have regularly been appointed to the Pacific Islands to support the faith life of communities there. For many religious orders, the Pacific is part of the same province as New Zealand. "There is no record of any of the nine men about whom [McKenzie] enquired being accused of abuse before the order of diocese appointed to them to the Pacific. Allegations against some were not received until after their death." As for Pope Leo's alleged handling of abuse cases in Peru, Heasley said he's concerned. "We've seen pushback from people inside the Catholic Church calling these women 'liars'. It's an astonishing thing where you have so-called advocates of women's voices, the silence of women's voices coming in behind the pope who they see as a fellow Peruvian because he has joint citizenship." He said canon lawyer Brendan Daly has called the sexual abuse of children the greatest threat to the Catholic church. "None of these folks are dealing with this, and even to this point, with this new pope has yet to say anything except to deny the accusation. He has not reached out to sexual survivors, and without that, he is not an acceptable pope." The New Zealand Catholic Bishop Conference said there are many first-hand reports "including from victims and survivors of abuse" that have shared their appreciation for how well then-Bishop Prevost handled the cases in Peru. "He played a pivotal role in having a religious community shut down - which is a rare and severe course of action," the statement read.
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Chch court told of man's ‘campaign of violence and terror'
Christchurch District Court Photo / Nate McKinnon, RNZ By Al Williams WARNING: This story is about family violence and may be distressing. A mother was in tears as she shut her eyes and blocked her ears when a man's campaign of terror over her family was revealed in court. She had endured ongoing violence from him over a six-month period, before he turned his attention to her daughter. The woman's tears continued as her daughter went on to describe how his actions had affected her too. 'It has changed my life, since the abuse happened, I don't feel like a normal kid anymore, I feel nervous. The girl was 11 when the man, who has name suppression, showed her online pornography, told her to undress and then indecently assaulted her. 'I don't trust people like I used to, I have a hard time focusing on school now, I try to pay attention, but my head goes blank, I feel like I can't keep up anymore,' she told the court during his sentencing this week. 'I just get angry, other times I start crying, people think I am being dramatic, but they don't know what is going on inside. 'I can't be around crowds, I used to be happier, more outgoing and confident, I have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 'I didn't deserve what happened and I don't want to feel like this forever.' The pair were caught up in what was described by Judge Raoul Neave in the Christchurch District Court as a campaign of violence and terror. Judge Neave said the offending occurred during a sustained period of violence, fear and control. 'They must have been living in fear.' Weekly beatings The court heard of numerous assaults; the man had initially accused the girl's mother of cheating and pushed her up against a wall, about six months into their relationship. He then backhand punched her while she was holding a baby in the back seat of a car he was driving. After that he started verbally abusing her almost every day . 'She would get a hiding at least once a week,' Judge Neave said. He would punch her while she was holding an infant, and sometimes in the face. Another incident resulted in a permanent scar on her neck. On yet another occasion, he held a kitchen knife to her neck and applied pressure. 'She thought you were going to kill her,' the judge said. The assaults continued after she discovered she was pregnant. The woman told the man in a statement she read in court that she 'walked on eggshells' around him as the assaults happened while the children were present. One thing that could not be excused was the sexual abuse of her daughter, she said. 'She was 11, the fact she looked up to her, you have caused trauma that will never be erased. 'I am terrified of seeing you again, it is essential for everyone here to understand the impact of his actions.' Victim shuts her eyes and blocks her ears The woman, who was visibly emotional throughout the proceedings, shut her eyes and blocked her ears as Judge Neave started to sentence the man. 'I have received a lot of information about you; there is lack of empathy and minimisation.' Some of the offending occurred while the man was coming down from methamphetamine, the judge said. There had been a background of health difficulties, family problems and a history of drug use. Judge Neave said it was possible other factors were paired in the man's inability to make sound judgments, but not a 'huge' link. 'This was sustained violence, assault in varying types, use of weapons, any number of household items available to you. 'The victim suffered from a number of injuries; they were varied and numerous and repeated.' At times the victim was very vulnerable because of her pregnancy, especially when she was on the ground during the assaults, the judge said. Judge Neave said the assault against the child victim was aggravated by the viewing of pornography. 'It was sustained and intrusive.' Violent and sexual offending Crown prosecutor Penny Brown said it was both violent and sexual offending with numerous and extensive attacks to the neck and in the presence of children. There was also a risk to an unborn child, she said. 'I want to say the guilty plea was extremely late, it spared the young victim from giving evidence at trial.' Defence lawyer Kathy Basire said there were multiple reports and letters of support and she described him as a 'different man now'. She said a sentence of home detention could be reached. There was a 'nexus' with his background issues in terms of the offending, she said. Judge Neave responded, saying the man had turned into a 'violent terrorist in the home'. Basire said he was coming down off methamphetamine. 'It doesn't justify or explain six months of violence,' the judge said. Judge Neave jailed the man for two years and 10 months on charges of an indecent act with a child, exposure of a young person to indecent material, assault with a weapon (representative), assault on a person in a family relationship (representative) and assault on a person in a family relationship. FAMILY VIOLENCE How to get help: If you're in danger now: • Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you. • Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you. • Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else. • If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.
