Bentley, Range Rovers and Porsche of money launderers seized and negotiated in transactions of 120 million dollars

An Auckland crime syndicate dealing in transactions of up to $ 120 million has had its luxury cars, houses and apartments seized.

Police today carried out 23 search warrants across the city and arrested seven people; six Chinese citizens and one Australian.

The union’s assets are estimated to be worth around $ 6 million combined.

A Bentley, two Porsche, two Range Rovers were seized and the police are looking for a white 2014 Rolls Royce Wraith.

The police’s Financial Crimes Group led a year-long investigation, called Operation Martinez, which focuses on money laundering and related crimes.

The group’s national manager, Detective Superintendent Iain Chapman, says the numbers involved are “staggering.”

“Our research has found that this group of people has dealt with transactions in excess of $ 120 million.

“While some of these funds may be legitimate, as a result of months of investigation, the police suspect that a significant amount of these treated funds were illegally obtained through crimes.

“The investigation team will now work to reconstruct the company’s activities to determine the source of these funds, and our investigations continue in this area.”

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the Rolls Royce should contact the police at 105.

Eight properties in total have been seized in central Auckland, Albany and Glenfield.

The detainees are six men and a woman between 29 and 48 years old. They are not known to be linked to any gang of deportees 501.

One person also faces charges related to the supply of methamphetamine after a quantity of the drug was located at one of the properties.

Those involved are alleged to have laundered millions of dollars through the company, which has been running since 2017.

Police say those involved knew it was obtained through crimes such as drug trafficking, fraud, theft and robbery.

Chapman says the union posed as a legitimate financial services provider, with offices in Auckland City.

“It has been a year-long undercover investigation by members of the Financial Crimes Unit by members from all over New Zealand, but it is by no means over,” he says.

“Now we’re going to spend the next few weeks, the next few months, going through the books or the lack of them within these businesses to really try to establish the level of crime.

The group is expected to appear in Auckland District Court tomorrow.

Last month, police arrested six people and seized millions in assets after morning raids in Auckland.

Police seized seven high-end luxury vehicles, a boat and three motorcycles, with a combined value of more than $ 1.2 million.

The luxury vehicles include a $ 450,000 Lamborghini Huracan and three new 2020 Mercedes-Benz models, including a $ 280,000 G-wagon, police said.

Three properties in Half Moon Bay, Te Atatū, and New Lynn, worth at least $ 3.3 million, were seized, and about $ 250,000 in cash was also seized.

The arrests are the result of Operation Brookings, a long-running investigation by the Financial Crime Group.

Op Brookings and Op Martinez are not directly linked, says Chapman.

“We saw, as we do with any business, crosses but this is a separate union,” he says.

“The difference between Operation Brookings and this one is that it is a business that presents itself as a legitimate company.”