Comancheros spend big
Two Comancheros associates, including a media personality, have admitted laundering money that was spent on luxury cars, rent and calf implants.
The two men, aged 35 and 37, have interim name suppression and appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday where they admitted eight charges of money laundering between them, totalling $513,819.68.
Court documents show the men were on bail for other offending when they laundered cash from drug dealing. They were arrested as part of Operation Rider, a police operation targeting members and associates of the Comanchero gang.
The media personality is said to have bought several luxury cars using cash made from criminal activity. They were registered in other people’s names to avoid detection from authorities. Court documents show the media personality arranged for the cash to be delivered to a car yard owner.
When the pair discussed the cash, they would refer to it as ‘‘noodles’’.
He bought a $100,000 BMW X5 for his partner. He spent a further $176,000 on a Mercedes-benz E63 that wound up in the possession of another Comancheros associate. He later bought an Audi RS6 for $178,000 for his partner’s father.
The media personality is also accused of arranging for $100,000 cash from criminal offending to be transferred into a solicitor’s trust account to pay for his legal fees.
Court documents show the Comancheros associate spent $15,999.68 on cosmetic surgery to have his calves increased in size.
He also used drug money to pay most of his $930 a week rent on his home in Silverdale, which has a capital value of $1.8 million.
When police executed their search warrants they found Ciphr encrypted communication devices at the homes of both men.
The devices are used by underworld gangs in Australia and cost thousands in subscription fees, according to media reports.
The pair were to face trial on Monday.
Judge Nevin Dawson remanded them on bail for sentencing in August.
Their assets have been frozen following a series of police raids across Auckland in April 2019 that netted $3.7m in assets, including luxury cars, motorbikes, high-end luggage and jewellery.
Police also restrained the group’s assets under Proceeds of Crime legislation. That included a house at Bucklands Beach in Auckland, two vehicles, three Harley Davidson motorbikes and $46,206.10 in cash.
Detective Inspector Julian Rinckes previously said the focus into alleged money laundering by the Comancheros gang began in late 2019, following Operation Nova, which saw 18 people arrested and $3.7m worth of assets seized.