Police say they have caught up with a pair following a lengthy investigation into a multimillion-dollar burglary nearly four years ago.
What began at an Auckland property in Westmere in late 2021 ended with a search warrant being executed at a rural property north of the city this week, police say.
A sophisticated burglary took place on September 9, 2021, with the target being a safe inside the property.
Tucked away was $4 million in cryptocurrency, cash, jewellery, and other priceless family heirlooms, police say.
An investigation picked up pace in 2024, with the Auckland City Police financial crime unit (FCU) homing in on new avenues of investigation.
Detective senior sergeant Craig Bolton says the victim had engaged a private investigator and in mid-2024 handed over a raft of information to police.
“From this point it has given the financial crime unit a good starting point about what had happened with the cryptocurrency, and a line of enquiry.
“Detective Oliver Moss chipped away at the case over many months, and this soon identified the person we will allege is responsible for the crime.”
On Wednesday, August 20, a team of detectives from the Auckland City Police FCU led by detective sergeant Ali Ramsay, with support from tactical police staff and the Auckland cybercrime unit executed a search warrant at a Wellsford address.
A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the 2021 burglary, as well as four counts of money laundering $4m in cryptocurrency, police say.
A 30-year-old woman has also been jointly charged over the money laundering offences.
Police have seized electronic items for further investigation, they say.
Bolton says the police investigation highlights “new investigative possibilities with digital forensic evidence”.
“Detective Moss has worked tenaciously in putting the pieces together and identifying who police will allege is responsible for this crime.
“I’d like to acknowledge the ongoing commitment and investigative nouse of private investigator Michael Campbell in what has been a complex investigation.”
The next chapter will begin with the Wellsford pair due to make their first appearance in the Auckland District Court on August 26, police say.
