An accused “money mule” allegedly linked to eight investment scam victims and an estimated $1.7 million in stolen money is a director and shareholder of multiple companies, a CEO and former board member for his child’s school.  

And though police believe the Whanganui man is in cahoots with overseas criminals who have targeted Kiwi bank customers in an elaborate rort, the man denies being a party to the fraud and plans to defend the charges at trial. 

Asked by the Herald whether he himself had been caught up in some kind of scam, he replied: “Yeah, you’re not wrong.” 

The man was arrested last year and charged with five counts of money laundering totalling $900,000. 

At the time, the Herald was aware of at least six victims who appeared to be connected to the same accused mule who lost a combined $1.25m within the space of just one month. One of those victims declined to proceed with a formal police complaint. 

However, the Herald can reveal the man was charged with two further counts of money laundering last month relating to two new complainants, one in Whitianga and one in Gisborne, with additional losses of $450,000. 

With the latest arrests, it’s suspected the defendant is now linked to eight separate victims with total losses of about $1.7m. 

The alleged victims include Whangārei health worker and BNZ customer Borja Ares, who lost his family’s $330,000 life savings in May last year in a Citibank-branded term deposit scam.  

In a precedent-setting decision last month, the Banking Ombudsman ruled BNZ should reimburse Ares and North Shore real estate agent Carla O’Neil (who lost $100,000) 70 per cent of their losses due to the bank failing to recognise signs of a known scam. 

North Shore real estate agent Carla O'Neil lost $100,000 in a Citibank-branded investment scam last year. Photo / Michael Craig 

Ares and other commentators have been critical of ASB for allegedly allowing a mule to use the company’s bank accounts to wash large amounts of stolen cash. 

They claim the case raises questions about how ASB failed to detect significant alleged fraudulent offending, whether ASB properly monitored its customers’ account activity and if anti-money-laundering regulations have been breached. 

However, ASB is defending its processes as robust, saying it follows stringent anti-money-laundering and customer-verification processes when opening any new account. 

“We take our obligations under the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Act very seriously and are confident our customer due diligence and ongoing account monitoring procedures are robust.” 

The accused Whanganui man has held the CEO role for at least one company, has a significant social media profile and has served as a board member for his child’s local school. 

When contacted last month, he told the Herald he was prepared to discuss the charges he faced and how he had been caught up in the case, but after speaking to his lawyer said he had been instructed not to comment. 

The suspect is due to reappear in Whanganui District Court in March. 

He appeared in Whanganui District Court on February 20 on the two new charges, which relate to alleged offences in Whitianga between November 28, 2022, and December 12, 2022, and in Gisborne between March 27 and March 31 last year. 

The man, who has name suppression, did not enter pleas and was remanded on bail to reappear this month. 

If convicted he faces up to seven years in jail. 

Ares told the Herald he believed banks were missing important red flags and allowing mules to use domestic accounts to siphon money out of New Zealand. 

“We need regulation. The ones stuck with the bill are the Kiwis. The titan must be held accountable for his actions.” 

ASB executive general manager for technology and operations David Bullock said the global threat and “exponential growth” of fraud and scams were a huge concern. 

“We expect to spend almost $100 million this financial year on preventing fraud and scams, financial crime and on cyber security and we have a team of more than 350 people dedicated to fighting fraud and financial crime.” 

ASB had just launched the first phase of a fraud and scams awareness campaign. It aimed to help keep New Zealanders informed and vigilant, as a “first line of defence”. 

“While our systems are protecting more customers from increasingly complex scams, customer vigilance, supported by a collective response and education efforts from banks, police, telcos, government and social media companies, is the best way to keep New Zealanders safe.” 

* Additional reporting Michael Tweed 

• Lane Nichols is a senior journalist and deputy head of news based in Auckland. Before joining the Herald in 2012, he spent a decade at Wellington’s Dominion Post and Nelson Mail.