Comancheros motorcycle club president on trial, Crown says the group was enjoying luxury with a problem of how to hide crimes

The president of the New Zealand chapter of the Comancheros Motorcycle Club, a media personality and three other individuals are on trial for denying a series of serious crimes including money laundering.

Gang boss Pasilika Naufahu and others were arrested last year in a high-profile police raid that followed an undercover investigation dubbed Operation Nova.

Crown prosecutor David Johnstone said Naufahu had arrived in the country from Australia in early 2016.

And from that moment on, he began to establish his chapter, appointing associates of his to perform official functions as vice president and secretary, “that sort of thing.”

Naufahu, his fellow comancheros, his associates and families began a lifestyle enjoying the material benefits that accrue from a whole series of criminal offenses, he said.

“The success of the group, until the police intervened, brought with it a whole series of things.

“New Range Rover after the new Ranger Rover”.

Properties including a $ 1.3 million Bucklands Beach home, flashy motorcycles and trips to the harbor in a luxury launch, Johnstone added.

That $ 1.3 million home was bought in the name of Naufahu’s 7-year-old son as a buyer, he said.

“Another thing that brought the group’s success with it was a problem.

“The problem, of course, was how to hide the crimes that were generating all that money.”

Much of the simulation went on to conceal the true source of the money, and the group used a variety of tactics to pretend the source of the money was legitimate, he said.

Some people connected with the case had done everything possible to prevent police from intercepting their communications, the court heard.

“This case is full of secrets and simulations,” Johnstone said.

The court heard that attorney Andrew Simpson was used to establish trusts for Naufahu and others.

As money was divided from the attorney’s account in these trusts, it would end up “mixed up” and “scrambled” in an attempt to gain the semblance of legitimacy, Johnstone said.

The Crown Prosecutor is expected to continue his keynote address tomorrow morning.

Naufahu faces charges of conspiracy to import a Class A drug and conspiracy to supply a Class B drug, as well as three counts of money laundering.

The money laundering charges relate to the purchase of a Ford Ranger, Bentley and Jacon SG3 Trailer concrete pump, which together total more than $ 212,700.

Wiwini Himi Hakaraia, an accountant, faces one count of participation in an organized criminal group, two counts of possession of a class A drug for supply, as well as three counts of money laundering.

Connor Clausen is charged with conspiring to supply pseudoephedrine, a class B drug.

A media personality, who has name suppression, faces one count of participation in an organized criminal group and two counts of money laundering.

The money laundering charges relate to the purchase of two concrete pumps for a total of $ 439,700.

The latest defendant, who also has name suppression, faces a money laundering charge by depositing more than $ 292,000 in cash into various bank accounts.

The jury trial is expected to last four weeks and be chaired by Judge Graham Lang.