Latest news with #WellingtonHighCourt
1News
7 hours ago
- 1News
Fourth person charged with manslaughter over Loafers Lodge fire
A fourth person has been charged with manslaughter over the Loafers Lodge fire that killed five people in Wellington in 2023. Three people were charged with manslaughter last week following a two-year investigation into whether the state of the building and the management and compliance of its fire safety systems contributed to the fatal outcome. Michael Wahrlich, Melvin Parun, Peter O'Sullivan, Kenneth Barnard and Liam Hockings died in the blaze that began shortly after midnight on May 16, 2023. A 72-year-old man is set to appear in Wellington District Court on Monday. Last week, two men aged 75 and 58, and a 70-year-old woman appeared in the Wellington District Court facing manslaughter charges. ADVERTISEMENT Detective Sergeant Olivia Meares said police allege all four were responsible for aspects of the building's fire safety systems. A 50-year-old man had previously been charged with murder in relation to deliberately lighting the fire. A trial is scheduled to start before the Wellington High Court on August 25. The fire broke out at the Loafers Lodge, in Newtown, early this morning. (Source: Breakfast) Police, Fire and Emergency NZ and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment reminded those who owned or managed buildings, particularly buildings with sleeping accommodation, of their responsibility to ensure occupants were protected from fire. These included ensuring the necessary evacuation procedures were in place, with an approved evacuation scheme if it was a "relevant building", and ensuring the means of escape from fire were maintained. "Where applicable, ensure you understand the maintenance requirements for the specified systems outlined in your building's compliance schedule as required under the Building Act. Particularly those relating to the building emergency warning system or fire alarm." Those who owned a tenanted residential property should ensure fire safety obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 were met.
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.
NZ Herald
19-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Cryptocurrency scam: Wellington-based man arrested in FBI bust has thousands in assets restrained
Police have restrained more than $650,000 in assets after a Wellington man's arrest for a cryptocurrency scam. The man appeared in Auckland District Court accused of stealing US$265 million ($450m) in cryptocurrency. Assets valued at $670,000 were restrained, including cash, cryptocurrency, and high-value goods. Police have restrained more than $650,000 in assets, after the arrest of a man allegedly involved in a cryptocurrency scam as part of an FBI investigation. The Wellington-based man appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday for his alleged involvement in an organised criminal group that stole cryptocurrency from seven victims valued at US$265 million ($450m). The Wellington High Court issued restraining orders under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 for assets valued at $670,000 including cash in bank accounts, cash in a lawyer's trust account for a property purchase, cryptocurrency and high value goods.
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Scoop
Man Arrested In FBI Bust Has Thousands In Assets Restrained
Police have restrained more than $650,000 in assets, following the arrest of a Wellington-based man on Friday as part of an FBI investigation. The man appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday for his alleged involvement in an organised criminal group that stole cryptocurrency from seven victims valued at US$265M (NZD$450M). The Wellington High Court has now issued restraining orders under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 for assets valued at $670,000 including cash held in bank accounts, cash held in a lawyer's trust account for the purchase of a property, cryptocurrency, and high value goods. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in the United States to recover assets alleged to have been stolen by the organised criminal group. An interim name suppression order remains in place.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Wellington City Council Defends Process That Led To Decision To Demolish City To Sea Bridge
Lawyers for Wellington City Council say councillors were given multiple options, and deny staff pushed them towards demolishing the City to Sea Bridge., Journalist Lawyers for Wellington City Council say councillors were given multiple options when considering whether to demolish the City to Sea Bridge, and deny staff pushed them to that option. The council on Tuesday was presenting its side of a judicial review into plans to demolish the bridge – which connects the city's waterfront to Civic Square – in the Wellington High Court. Lawyer Bridie McKinnon said applicants the Wellington Civic Trust had cast council officers as the villain in their testimony, alleging the officers filtered out options that did not adhere to a predetermined preference to demolish the bridge. She said the officers worked under intense pressure and public scrutiny. McKinnon said officers costed multiple solutions to make the bridge earthquake-safe, and set up workshops with engineering firms that councillors were able to attend. She said the council was within its rights to focus on solutions that achieved its goals of safety, affordability, maintaining the site's aesthetic and allowing other construction work in the city's Civic Square to go on uninterrupted. 'Nowhere in the Local Government Act is the council obliged to identify all reasonably practicable options. That is not the standard. The obligation is to seek to identify them. The extent of those inquiries is at the council's discretion,' McKinnon said. 'It is not an open ended inquiry which never ends. The process of local government decision making would grind to a halt.' She said public consultation on the fate of the bridge acknowledged demolition was a preferred option at that point. She said council officers put forward six separate options, including lesser strengthening options, 'with a host of reports' explaining why these options were preferred or otherwise. 'Council officers undertook a significant amount of work to investigate the available options and present relevant information to councillors for their decision. 'They held site visits, held workshops with engineers and experts – [including] workshops open to councillors – to hear directly from experts. They concepted designs that were considered reasonable by experts even if they weren't considered reasonably practicable. 'Most, if not all, of the options that the Trust says were not provided to the council were – in fact – provided to councillors as options and were considered by council staff.' McKinnon countered the Trust's characterisation of public consultation as relating to demolition options only as a reasonable reflection of the council's goals for the precinct within the context of its funding limitations. 'The nature of consultation often contains predeterminations in some sense. To consult on strengthening would have been disingenuous when the council did not have anywhere near the funding required to do so based on the information council had at the time.' On Monday, lawyers for the Trust suggested that reducing the Importance Level (IL) – a measure of earthquake risk – of the Capital E building could open up a greater variety of options for strengthening the bridge to a level that was more aligned with its current use, following the closure of Capital E after it was designated earthquake-prone following the Seddon earthquake in 2013. But McKinnon told the High Court on Tuesday that even with the lower IL2 designation, the building was unlikely to achieve more than 34 percent of its strengthening requirements. McKinnon cited consulting reports into the building works going on about Civic Square in buildings such as the Town Hall, the former Capital E site – beneath the bridge – and the nearby Council CAB building. She said the Civic Square area was subject to multiple issues – relating to flooding, earthquake damage and sea level rise – and all structures and public spaces in the area would have to be designed and built with a 'high degree of resilience' to withstand future events.
