Comancheros trial: money handler ‘at center of case’ says life was at stake

A money handler described as “the center” of the Crown case in the Comancheros president’s trial claims that he helped import Class A drugs because he feared for his life.

Gang boss Pasilika Naufahu, fellow comanchero Connor Michael Tamati Clausen, accountant Wiwini Himi Hakaraia and two others, who have name suppression, deny a number of serious criminal charges.

All five were arrested after high-profile police raids that followed an undercover investigation dubbed Operation Nova.

The money handler, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, testified in Auckland High Court via a video link from a New Zealand prison.

This man said he met the gang leader through his brother and they asked him to do a job for him.

In addition, he told the court that then-attorney Andrew Simpson had advised him to make bank deposits for amounts less than $ 10,000 for legal reasons.

“I didn’t doubt him because a lawyer was supposed to give me good advice … I thought he was fine, he should be fine.”

He told the court that he had already admitted his role in importing Class A drugs.

“I was involved in that because my address was used. They pressured me.”

But he insisted that he really had no other choice as his life was at stake and his loved ones were under the same threat.

During questioning, Naufahu’s attorney, Ron Mansfield, asked if the man had heard the phrase “hide behind God.”

The man had not accepted but proclaimed himself a man of faith.

Mansfield said despite the man, by his own admission, having been involved in importing illicit drugs and suggested that his story was a “selfish lie.”

“Can I answer that?” The man said.

“Well, I hope it does,” Mansfield replied.

He stressed that his family had been in danger.
“Almost every day he did exactly what he was told or he was a dead man.”

He said that when he was arrested early last year he was relieved.

He claimed that he hinted at the nature of the pressure he was under by telling the officer “he has no idea what he has done.”

In other words, he said, he had been released. “Salvation has knocked at my door.”

He told the court that the threats came from a drug dealer abroad and his own brother.
However, he said he could only cooperate with the police when others were arrested.

He also told the court several times that he believed his management would receive cooking equipment instead of illicit drugs.

Mansfield questioned the man’s motive in testifying at trial.
“I need to get this off my chest … I owe it to New Zealand.”

He said that he had never even had a parking ticket before and wanted to “wash his hands clean.”

“I’m not an actor, otherwise I would be in Hollywood.”

Mansfield responded by suggesting that the man was in prison because he was a liar and that he was saying what would benefit him the most.

The charges

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.

Hakaraia is charged with participating in an organized criminal group, two counts of possession of a class A drug for supply and three counts of money laundering.

Clausen is accused of conspiring to supply pseudoephedrine, a class B drug.

A media personality with 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 trial is expected to last four weeks and be chaired by Judge Graham Lang.