Latest news with #AucklandDistrictCourt
NZ Herald
03-06-2025
- NZ Herald
Developer, builder Naylor Love fined $35,000 for illegal rooftop changes to The CAB apartments
Developer John Love's company Civic Lane and one of New Zealand's biggest builders have been fined $35,000 for illegal modifications to the top level of Auckland apartment development The CAB. The decision from Judge Sheena Tepania in the Auckland District Court fined Love's Civic Lane $21,000 and builder Naylor Love
RNZ News
25-05-2025
- RNZ News
Karangahape Road shooting suspect pleads not guilty
Karangahape Road (file) Photo: 123RF The man charged after a shooting on Auckland's Karangahape Road has pleaded not guilty. Police were called at about 3.50am on Sunday morning to reports of several shots fired on the inner city street , injuring two people. Police arrested the 21-year-old accused a short time later. He appeared in Auckland District Court on Monday morning before Judge David Sharp, facing firearms charges as well as two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and a charge of possessing cocaine. The man's lawyer entered not guilty pleas to all charges on his behalf. His supporters were in court, and shouted "chur bro" at the accused as he stood in the dock. "I know you're pleased to see your whanau but you've just got to take it easy," Sharp said in response. The man was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody, expected to reappear in court in August. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
22-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Twice-convicted rapist Musab Hamdi given indefinite prison term for Auckland attack
'There is no possibility of [rehabilitation] because of your refusal to take responsibility for your actions. You pose a significant, ongoing risk to the community.' Preventive detention is a prison term without an end date designed to protect the community from the nation's most high-risk offenders. Justice Blanchard ordered that Hamdi serve a minimum of five years before he can apply for parole. But the Parole Board now has the power to reject his requests as many times as needed if Hamdi's refusal to engage in rehabilitation means he remains a high risk. Napier, Auckland victims Hamdi's first trip to prison was in 2015 after he was found guilty of having raped an 18-year-old woman a year earlier. He was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and released on parole in August 2019 despite not having engaged in rehabilitation while incarcerated. His parole ended in August 2022 and about six weeks later he got into a conversation with the 13-year-old on Snapchat after having tried unsuccessfully to get her to reply previously. He said he was 17 and the girl said she would be 14 in three months. They chatted over video, but Hamdi remained in the shadows. When the child agreed to meet him, he kept her talking as he drove about 80km to her grandmother's house, arriving about 2.30am. 'You induced the victim to sneak out of the house,' Justice Blanchard said today as he recounted the facts of the case, adding that by the time she realised his true age and intentions it was too late. Hamdi drove the child to a remote location and invited her into the back seat, which she refused. He then forced himself on her. 'She tried to push you away, telling you, 'I don't want to do this',' the judge recounted. 'She repeatedly told you to stop.' After dropping her off at home, Hamdi said he'd like to meet her again sometime. The girl, however, told him bluntly that he had raped her and she blocked him on Snapchat. He tried opening a new Snapchat account to contact her, but the ruse didn't work. The girl told her school counsellor the following Monday and two weeks later police were at Hamdi's home with a search warrant. On his phone, authorities found illegal child sexual exploitation videos and photos, including from a 10-year-old Napier girl he had contacted in March that year while still on parole and a photo depicting an unidentified infant being raped. Police also found an explicit Snapchat conversation and video with a young girl from Latvia. The social media app is known for self-deleting messages but their exchange had happened on the same morning as the search. 'Sickened and disgusted' A district court jury found Hamdi guilty of rape last July. Auckland District Court Judge Peter Winter found him guilty of possessing the objectionable material discovered on his phone after a judge-alone trial in October. Both cases were transferred to the High Court after the Crown announced its intention to seek preventive detention. Hamdi's 13-year-old victim did not attend today's sentencing hearing but watched with her grandmother via an audio-video feed. 'I didn't want to do this,' she said in a written victim impact statement that was read aloud by prosecutors. 'I feel sickened and disgusted. Everything has been so, so stressful.' The victim, now 16, said Hamdi made it worse by continuing to deny the charge, forcing her to come to court. She described uncontrollable shaking and a nosebleed that wouldn't stop before giving evidence. 'I can't think about it without being sick,' she said of the offending. 'It's been years and I still cry about it. 'I regularly have flashbacks and then it feels like everything is upside down. You did this to me. You made me feel scared of the people in this world.' She said she hopes Hamdi does get the help he needs while in prison so that no other girls are victimised when he is eventually released. 'You took a sweet, innocent girl and left something else,' she said. Don't extinguish hope The crux of the Crown's case for preventive detention was that Hamdi can't be rehabilitated while continuing to deny the offending. 'He consistently states it either didn't occur or there's a conspiracy against him,' Crown prosecutor Helen Brown said. 'There's just not a realistic prospect he would engage in any rehabilitation. There has been no effort and there is highly unlikely to be any effort in the future.' Two psychological reports presented by the Crown assessed Hamdi to be a high risk of reoffending without treatment. A third assessment, provided by the defence, was inconclusive about his future risk. Brown warned the judge against taking the defendant at his word, noting that he said he's never used drugs and denied any sexual thoughts or sexual experiences while on parole. Texts from the three months before the search warrant show he was looking for methamphetamine almost every day, she said. Advertise with NZME. Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, KC, emphasised that at 37, his client has only been to prison once before. Preventive detention, he argued, was an outsized reaction given Hamdi's limited history. Mansfield said an extended supervision order – allowing parole-like restrictions to remain in place after a finite sentence is completed – would be a less restrictive and more proper response if Hamdi continues to refuse rehabilitation. Without an end date, he said, there would be little incentive for his client to engage in such treatment. 'We shouldn't seek to extinguish that opportunity for him to do so,' Mansfield said, adding that preventive detention is a 'last resort' for those who 'show no hope' – not those facing only their second prison sentence. Had Justice Blanchard imposed a finite sentence, the judge said he would have settled on 10 and a half years' imprisonment, with a minimum term of imprisonment of five years. That sentence would have reflected an uplift for Hamdi's history and having offended again while on parole, as well as a 10% reduction for his background. He suffered PTSD and claustrophobia stemming from his youth in Iraq, which will make prison disproportionally severe for him, the judge agreed. But in the end, the judge told Hamdi, the overriding concern had to be the protection of the community. 'I accept this is a pattern of serious offending,' he said before referring to the 13-year-old victim's impact statement. 'There can be no doubt the harm caused to her is serious.' Hamdi sat quietly in the courtroom dock as the sentence was imposed. It was a stark contrast to some earlier hearings. During a brief callover hearing in September to set the sentencing date, Hamdi appeared via audio-video feed from a prison conference room, frequently interrupting Justice Mathew Downs until the judge ordered that he be put on mute. 'Mute me? Who the hell do you think you are muting me?' Hamdi yelled before the judge ordered that the feed be cut altogether, concluding the hearing without him.
1News
19-05-2025
- 1News
Over $650k worth of assets restrained after man's arrest in FBI probe
More than $650,000 worth of assets have been restrained by police following the arrest of a Wellington-based man as part of an FBI investigation into a group that allegedly scammed several victims out of NZD$450 million in cryptocurrency. The Wellington High Court has now issued restraining orders for assets valued at $670,000, including cash held in bank accounts, cash held in a lawyer's trust account for the purchases of a property, cryptocurrency, and high-value goods such as a Louis Vuitton bag and Nike shoes. Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard said police would continue to work with law enforcement in the United States to recover assets alleged to have been stolen by the organised criminal group. Cryptocurrency valued at NZ$450m was stolen from seven victims between March and August 2024, with proceeds laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms. The offenders allegedly spent millions of dollars on exotic cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, watches and clothing, nightclub services, private security guards, and rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami. Search warrants executed in Auckland, Wellington, and California led to the arrest of several people, with the New Zealand Police's Financial Crime Group arresting a Wellington-based man in Auckland on Friday morning. He was indicted by the US Department of Justice under US Federal law, charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was bailed after appearing in the Auckland District Court on Friday, where he was also granted interim name suppression. He was expected to reappear in the Auckland District Court on July 3.
Otago Daily Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Man guilty of trying to defraud Covid wage subsidy of millions
auckland_district_court.png Auckland District Court. File photo: RNZ A man who tried to fraudulently claim millions of dollars through Covid-19 wage subsidy schemes has been found guilty at the Auckland District Court. Hun Min Im faced 91 charges related to his attempts to claim $1.88 million from the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme (WSS), the Small Business Cashflow Scheme, Covid-19 Support Payments and Resurgence Support Payments. In total, Im attempted to claim $2.3 million and received almost $624,000. He was found guilty of 18 charges of obtaining by deception and 16 charges of using a forged document while Im pleaded guilty to 54 charges of dishonestly using a document. Three obtaining by deception charges were still yet to be determined. Serious Fraud Office director Karen Chang said Im's offending was deliberate and wide-reaching. "He created a complex web of fake companies and forged documents which our expert teams spent many hours piecing together. He stole the personal information of his tenants and applicants who responded to fake job ads he placed online, to use as shareholders, directors and employees in his companies. "Mr Im took advantage of public money that was intended to support people and businesses during a time of significant stress and uncertainty. Any money he received was used to fund his personal lifestyle, including an apartment and luxury vehicle," she said. Im submitted 42 WSS applications on behalf of eight companies and four sole traders, none of which were trading in New Zealand or had any staff. He forged signatures and used forged documents when incorporating companies, filed GST returns to claim refunds his companies were not entitled to. Im also sought a further $172,800 in Covid-19 subsidies from Inland Revenue that he was not entitled to. The Serious Fraud Office was alerted to this case by the Ministry of Social Development after its own initial investigations, Chang said. "We want to recognise the cooperation and support provided by Inland Revenue, Police and the Companies Office to our investigation." "This includes the Police Asset Recovery Unit, which restrained a property and vehicle following a referral from the SFO. The investigation was a great example of agencies working together to investigate abuse of public funds."
