logo
Missing man's car found in Whanganui River

Missing man's car found in Whanganui River

RNZ News19 hours ago
Photo:
NZ Police
The police have found the vehicle of a man, whose been missing for over a week, in the Whanganui River.
The man, called Kahu, was last seen on 27 June in the Whanganui area.
Police said he was last seen wearing a black hoodie, with red text on the sleeves and camo cargo plants.
"We're asking anybody who is walking along or near the river or coastline near Whanganui to report any unusual findings or clothing matching the description of what Kahu was wearing," a police spokesperson said.
If you have any information, please contact police via 105 either over the phone or online, and reference file number 250702/3842.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

The Lodge: Tauranga bomb scare linked to South Island cult, RNZ podcast reveals
The Lodge: Tauranga bomb scare linked to South Island cult, RNZ podcast reveals

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • RNZ News

The Lodge: Tauranga bomb scare linked to South Island cult, RNZ podcast reveals

The Lodge, pictured in 2004. Photo: No credit A member of a wellness cult was responsible for a 2005 bomb threat that led to the evacuation of central Tauranga, RNZ's new investigative podcast The Lodge can reveal. The 13-hour siege, which shut down several city blocks, was carried out by Jakob Slevec, a 57-year-old Slovenian. Slevec had studied at the Phenomena Academy based at Takaro Lodge near Te Anau - a wellness cult run by Chinese guru Aiping Wang, the subject of an RNZ podcast currently being released. The Guru - grandmaster - Aiping Wang. Photo: No credit Today's episode reveals Slevec's links with the lodge. This connection has never been reported until now. According to hotel receptionist Bronwin Pretorius, who sat with Slevec for hours in the conference room of the Devonport Hotel during the incident, the man claimed to be carrying explosives and demanded to speak with Helen Clark. "He had a rucksack and wanted to speak to the Prime Minister. He said he had a bomb with him," Pretorius says in the podcast. The Armed Offenders Squad and bomb squad were deployed, three city blocks were evacuated, and the siege lasted 13 hours before authorities moved in, arresting Slevec without serious injury. News reports at the time said the shutdown of central Tauranga cost businesses $500,000. The episode reveals that Slevec was a student at Wang's Phenomena Academy and had been living at the lodge. He was one of 12 overseas followers facing deportation after New Zealand authorities had closed down Wang's teaching institution. An interview with Aiping Wang in 2004. Photo: No credit A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that "Jacob Slevec, the man with the backpack trying to get an audience with Helen Clark, had been living and studying at the lodge in Te Anau. Over four years he'd renewed his student visa multiple times". Pretorius, who was pregnant at the time though unaware of it, described the experience as "quite surreal" but noted that Slevec "didn't come across as scary" and had "a very calm nature". The following day in court, Slevec was charged with burglary, threatening to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, and was subsequently deported to Slovenia. Media coverage at the time made no mention of his connection to Wang's group. Slevec's bag contained no explosives. His protest appears to have been related to his impending deportation back to Eastern Europe. While Slevec never revealed what he was hoping to achieve or wanting to ask of the Prime Minister, the Bay of Plenty Times in 2005 reported he "believed he had to commit a crime to be deported without having to pay for his airfare home". Pretorius says, "I asked him what he was doing, why he was doing this, and he said that he pretty much, he was wanting to go back home". It was unclear whether by "home" he meant Slovenia or Te Anau. Simona, an ex-follower. Photo: Internet image The podcast reveals that Wang's Phenomena Academy had been set up in 2000 as a government-accredited teaching institute offering a three-year "diploma of life consultancy". Ex-followers say this accreditation enabled Wang to bring foreign followers to New Zealand on student visas. Edi, an ex-follower. Photo: Internet image Following a 2004 20/20 television documentary by this reporter, exposing questionable practices at the lodge, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) withdrew its accreditation. "After the 20/20 doco came out, NZQA removed Aiping's right to teach and deported a dozen followers on student visas. Jacob Slevec, the Tauranga fake bomber, was one of them," I explain in the podcast. Despite the deportations and loss of accreditation, it's believed Wang remained in New Zealand under a golden visa after purchasing the Lodge property for $2.1 million in 1998. Caroline, an ex-follower. Photo: Internet image The Lodge documents Wang's journey from Eastern Europe to New Zealand. Ex-followers say she'd brought them to the southwest of the South Island because this was the best place to survive a world disaster. Suzanne, an ex-follower. Photo: No credit Once they arrived in Aotearoa, Wang's Phenomena Academy promised believers they would learn how to levitate, see the future, and be healed without medicine. Warwick, an ex-follower Photo: VIP believers were charged just under three quarters of a million dollars for life membership and access to the guru. Aiping Wang in Eastern Europe pre-2000. Photo: Internet image The Lodge examines the expansion of a wellness empire across multiple countries, raising questions about the oversight of alternative healing practices and their potential consequences. - Newshub Archives

Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car with gunshot wound
Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car with gunshot wound

RNZ News

time3 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car with gunshot wound

Roman Starovoit pictured in May 2025 Photo: AFP / Pool / Dmitry Astakhov By Gleb Stolyarov and Andrew Osborn , Reuters Russia's sacked transport minister has been found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound and the principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said, hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him. A presidential decree published earlier on Monday (local time) gave no reason for the dismissal of Roman Starovoit, 53, after barely a year in the job, though political analysts were quick to raise the possibility that he may have been dismissed in connection with an investigation into corruption in the region he once ran. Reuters could not independently confirm these suggestions, though a transport industry source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Starovoit's position had been in question for months due to questions about the same corruption scandal. That investigation centres on whether 19.4 billion roubles (NZ$405 million) earmarked in 2022 for fortifying Russia's border with Ukraine in the Kursk region was properly spent or whether some of that money was embezzled. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement it was working to establish the precise circumstances of Starovoit's death. A pistol belonging to Starovoit, who was divorced with two daughters, had been found near his body, various Russian media outlets cited law enforcement sources as saying. Some Russian media, citing law enforcement sources, also said his body had been found with a gunshot wound to the head in bushes near his car, a Tesla, rather than in the car itself. The vehicle was left near a park not far from his home in the Moscow region. Before being appointed transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been governor of the Kursk region for nearly five years. Three months after he became transport minister, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War II and were only pushed out earlier this year after fierce fighting and widespread destruction. In April this year, Starovoit's successor as governor and his former deputy, Alexei Smirnov, was charged with embezzling money earmarked for defence purposes amid accusations that funds intended for border defences had been stolen, leaving Kursk more vulnerable to Ukrainian attack. Various Russian media outlets reported on Monday that Smirnov had told state investigators that Starovoit had also been in on the fraud. Reuters could not confirm that, and a lawyer for Smirnov - who has pleaded not guilty to embezzlement - told the state RIA news agency that he couldn't comment. Starovoit's dismissal comes at a time of significant challenges for Russia's transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year. Russia's aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country's largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates - needed to curb higher inflation exacerbated by the war - take their toll. Long-range Ukrainian drones also frequently force Russian airports to suspend their activities for safety reasons, sometimes causing major disruption. The Kremlin said Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of the Novgorod region, had been appointed acting transport minister, and it published photographs of him shaking hands with Putin in the Kremlin. Asked about Nikitin's swift appointment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin thought Nikitin had the right professional qualities and experience for the job. The transport ministry declined to comment. At his meeting with Putin, Nikitin spoke about working to digitise Russia's transport industry in an effort to reduce cargo bottlenecks and ensure smoother cross-border flows of goods.

Over 200 work visas linked to companies connected to Vietnamese organised crime rings
Over 200 work visas linked to companies connected to Vietnamese organised crime rings

RNZ News

time4 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Over 200 work visas linked to companies connected to Vietnamese organised crime rings

Police say dozens of people have been arrested and thousands of cannabis plants destroyed as part of search warrants. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police More than 200 people with valid work visas have been linked to inoperative companies connected to Vietnamese organised crime rings in East Auckland, Immigration New Zealand says. Police believe there are multiple groups operating cannabis grow houses across the city . Dozens of people have been arrested and thousands of cannabis plants destroyed as part of search warrants. A number of Vietnamese nationals have also been deported . RNZ can reveal police do not believe the grow houses uncovered are operated by solely one syndicate. "Police enquiries continue into the operations we have uncovered previously, including working with partner agencies where appropriate," police said. "Grow houses are not a new phenomenon for Police. These have been around for decades. We have encountered these sorts of operations over many decades right around the country." Police said the proliferation and size of some operations, particularly in the Auckland region, had changed. "Police have previously voiced our concerns over safety given some of the dangerous and dodgy electrical wiring that our staff encounter. "It poses not only a risk to those who are operating the illegal set up, but also neighbours and our staff who turn up to these addresses." Do you know more? Email The presence of syndicates in Auckland was likely proportionate to the population, police said, including the availability of rentals and the ability to blend in given the density of housing. A grow house uncovered last month. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police Documents from Immigration NZ show staff have worked with police under Operation Clementine to disrupt Vietnamese organised crime rings in East Auckland. The operation identified 38 businesses of interest. Immigration and police found 203 people who held valid work visas linked to 11 companies found to be inoperative, or believed inoperative. Sixty-two offshore visas had been cancelled before the holders were able to reach New Zealand. A further eight visas were cancelled at the border and eight other passengers were offloaded from flights into the country. Immigration NZ general manager for immigration, compliance and investigations Steve Watson told RNZ it had been working for roughly three months with police to target the crime groups. "Our work is focusing on the visa aspect of it," he said. "After receiving some information, we did a bit of work and commenced a three month operation that involved some accredited employer companies that we believed were employing migrants but in breach of their visas." Watson said 16 infringement notices had been issued to the companies illegally employing staff. Thirty-eight deportation liability notices had also been issued, with two people leaving the country voluntarily. Watson said those with deportation notices were still in the appeal period of the process. "We are just monitoring them to understand what their next steps are," he said. "If they don't appeal, or there's no further action, they will be deported." There were only another couple of weeks to appeal the notices, Watson said. "What we're seeing here is organised crime working through what appear to be legitimate businesses. "The way to disrupt that is for government agencies to work together, and lawfully and intelligently share information with each other, in order to disrupt what is actually organised crime behaviour," he said. Immigration NZ has been working with Police to target the international crime groups. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police Watson urged those migrants wanting to come to New Zealand to do so through official channels or an accredited agent. "Some of these people have paid significant amounts of money for visas when they didn't need to," he said. "We would encourage people to follow the correct process, in order to safeguard themselves when applying for a visa." December 2023 Police arrested 10 people, found 6886 plants and seized 10 kilograms of cannabis with a street value at the time of $16-25 million, through search warrants at properties across Waitematā and Counties Manukau. Up to $100,000 cash was also seized. Twelve migrants unlawfully in the country also faced deportation. Police at the time suggested the crime syndicate was predominantly operating across the Waitematā and Counties Manukau Police districts. May 2024 Police seize up to $15 million worth of cannabis from parts of rural southern Auckland, arresting nine people. More than 4300 plants were destroyed in Āwhitu, over 150 destroyed in Runciman and more than 1000 plants were destroyed in Glenbrook. Four Vietnamese nationals were arrested at Āwhitu. A further five Vietnamese nationals were arrested at the site in Glenbrook, Police said. September 2024 Police destroyed 953 cannabis plants and 13 kilograms of cannabis in East Auckland. An estimated $289,323 of stolen electricity had been used across properties, including in Somerville, Botany Downs, Pakuranga and Ōtara. Police found electrical fuses had been replaced at the rental properties they searched, some of which were so hot they could not be touched. They said wires in the affected fuses had melted and they could have caught fire. October 2024 Officers arrested 11 people, seized and destroyed 3385 cannabis plants and 48 kg of dried cannabis across Counties Manukau, Central Auckland and Waitematā District. The estimated value of the seizures at the time, based on estimated yield of the plants, was $18m. The majority of those arrested were in New Zealand illegally, Police said, and 11 Vietnamese Nationals were deported. Police reminded landlords to be vigilant when renting out their properties. They asked landlords to ensure there were regular property inspections and to carry out thorough vetting, including obtaining two forms of photo ID and sighting the original document. They also asked neighbours to be vigilant. Anyone who noticed suspicious activity, such as deliveries of easy grow and fertiliser bags being dropped off or signs a meter has been tampered with, was urged to contact Police. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store