Case Study 1 - Accountant received funds on behalf of criminal

Case Study Series:

Over the coming weeks we will bring you a number of case studies. These are a reminder that money launderers will go to extraordinary lengths to make their funds look legitimate.

Case Study 1 - Accountant received funds on behalf of criminal - Read more

Case Study 2 - Using an accountant as an intermediary in the legal structure of a business - Read more

Case Study 3 - Accountant facilitated a round- robin tax evasion scheme - Read more

Case Study 4 - Using shell businesses as a front for drug supply network - Read more

Case Study 5 - Transnational drug dealing - Read more

A methamphetamine manufacturer and dealer in the Waikato region used an accountant to receive cash from his drug dealing and convert it into various purchases of farm land over a number of years. He used two of his farm employees to collect and take cash from drug sales to the accountant’s office. The accountant had 12 accounts held at different banks in which he would bank the cash. The accounts were held for his accounting practice, a gift shop he and his wife owned, his personal accounts and a company account he was nominee director and shareholder of on behalf of the methamphetamine manufacturer.

The accountant went to different branches across the Waikato region and banked the cash into the various accounts. Some excuses he gave about the source of the cash were “it was cash takings from a client who owned a bar” or “it was his cash takings from a stall he operated at a market”.

The deposited cash would then be electronically transferred to his accounting practice to be held on behalf of the methamphetamine manufacturer. With his accumulated wealth, the methamphetamine manufacturer purchased farm land in the name of his family trust. The trustee of his trust was a corporate trustee company that the accountant was the director and shareholder of. This trust arrangement enabled the methamphetamine manufacturer to hide the fact he owned the farm land. It was estimated that, over ten years, he had accumulated NZ$4.8 million from his drug offending. He was sentenced to 12 years prison and his farm land (valued at approximately NZ$5million) was forfeited to the Crown. Whilst it was clear the accountant had engaged in money laundering, he was used as a witness against the methamphetamine manufacturer in exchange for immunity from prosecution. (via DIA)