A Tauranga man wanted by police for allegedly kidnapping a “money mule” who threatened to expose a tax fraud scheme in the kiwifruit industry has been arrested at Auckland Airport after making a surprise return to New Zealand.
The 31-year-old is the second person to be prosecuted after a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/more-than-3m-put-into-bank-accounts-of-illegal-migrant-in-alleged-kiwifruit-tax-evasion-scam-police-investigate-alleged-kidnapping-of-money-mule/UMUJ7Q2KSBABHBT2HGSEFUQPUE/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/more-than-3m-put-into-bank-accounts-of-illegal-migrant-in-alleged-kiwifruit-tax-evasion-scam-police-investigate-alleged-kidnapping-of-money-mule/UMUJ7Q2KSBABHBT2HGSEFUQPUE/"> Herald investigation last year revealed more than $3 million went through the bank accounts of an illegal migrant working under-the-table as an orchard labourer.
The money was deposited into his accounts in sums of up to $10,000 nearly every day over a six-month period, then withdrawn as cash by the “money mule” on behalf of a group he called “The Syndicate”.
But when he threatened to expose the tax evasion scam, the “money mule” claimed he was kidnapped in November 2023, assaulted and told to keep quiet or he would be killed.
With the encouragement of a supporter, the 33-year-old approached Inland Revenue and was interviewed about the tax scam by Tauranga-based investigators the following month.
He also told them about the kidnapping and was reassured they would refer his complaint to the police for further investigation, as Inland Revenue had a duty to report serious harm.
However, Inland Revenue did not report the alleged kidnapping.
The lack of disclosure from the tax department meant that Tauranga police only learned about the alleged kidnapping of the illegal migrant 18 months later when the Herald started asking questions about the case.
The delay has hindered the eventual police investigation and disappointed the alleged victim.
In February, the police charged a 36-year-old man from Whakatāne with wounding and kidnapping offences.
Two other men were listed on court documents as alleged co-defendants.
One of the men is dead and the other was living overseas at the time of the arrest.
However, the alleged suspect living overseas was arrested at Auckland Airport after returning to New Zealand late last month.
“A 31-year-old man was arrested on August 26 at Auckland Airport upon re-entering New Zealand,” Detective Sergeant Aaron Williams said.
He appeared in the Manukau District Court the next day and was charged with alleged offences of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and kidnapping.
The second arrest is the latest development in a long-running saga.
Just before Christmas, the Herald revealed Inland Revenue’s failure to refer the kidnapping complaint to the police to investigate in late 2023.
Poor information-sharing between government agencies has been highlighted as the greatest barrier to New Zealand’s ability to tackle organised crime, according to a panel of experts advising Cabinet ministers last year.
“This is a textbook example,” Steve Symon, chairman of the ministerial advisory group on organised crime, told the Herald.
“Sadly, this is almost a cliche in terms of a breakdown in communication between agencies. A situation like this needs a combined team effort between Inland Revenue, police and Immigration New Zealand… so a complainant can come forward and know they’re going to be safe.”
A spokesman for Inland Revenue declined to explain why the alleged kidnapping was not reported to police, citing clauses in New Zealand’s tax law that state “all sensitive revenue information” must be kept confidential.
“Section 18 of the Tax Administration Act prevents us from commenting on matters specific to individual taxpayers so we will not be responding to these questions.”
Inland Revenue and the police have a memorandum of understanding that allows information to be proactively shared for the prevention, detection and investigation of serious crimes.
However, such legal frameworks are not applied consistently across government agencies, according to one of the ministerial advisory group’s reports to Cabinet minister Casey Costello.
The expert panel heard “repeatedly” that constraints on information sharing meant law enforcement agencies could not keep pace with the evolving criminal landscape.
“As we have said before – organised crime can move at the speed of digital technology, but enforcement agencies can only move at the speed of the law,” the panel wrote in July.
“The public reasonably expects government agencies to use information that it has collected lawfully to target organised crime, both domestically and internationally. That requires the information to be proactively shared. That is not happening.
“There also appears to be a deeply rooted culture of a risk-averse approach towards proactive sharing of information.”
Inland Revenue (IR), which holds tax records that can be crucial to investigations into organised crime, was singled out for mention.
“IR has told us that it recognises the approach it has traditionally taken to information sharing may have been too conservative, and there is scope to be more pragmatic,” the expert panel wrote.
“This mirrors feedback we received from a number of other government agencies.”
To move away from a risk-averse culture, the panel also recommended information-sharing benchmarks be set as performance measures for the chief executives of government departments.
Those leaders would then be held accountable for meeting those targets by a proposed government minister with a dedicated focus on organised crime.
Last week, Costello was announced as New Zealand’s first “Minister of Organised Crime”.
She said her focus would be to create “cohesion” among the various government agencies that had been “disjointed” in tackling organised crime until now.
“We are going to set some clear priorities – but also some accountability. Then making sure we deliver.”
Meanwhile, the alleged kidnapping victim still faces deportation from New Zealand.
Despite being the crucial prosecution witness at the pending criminal trial, the “money mule” is now liable for deportation after a Government minister refused to grant a visa to the illegal migrant.
Chris Penk, formerly the Associate Immigration Minister, declined to intervene in the case, despite police raising fears about “witness interference” if the kidnapping complainant was no longer in the country.
The decision has disappointed Matt Robson, a specialist immigration lawyer who recently became involved in the case. He believes deporting his new client could jeopardise the prosecution.
“In my experience, whistleblowers are not deported,” said Robson, a former MP and minister in the Labour-Alliance Government between 1999 and 2002.
Robson has written to the ministers with oversight for the three relevant agencies involved – police, Inland Revenue and Immigration New Zealand – to seek a co-ordinated response.
“If my client is deported, the risk of witness intimidation or harm is very real.”
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld .
