Comancheros boss admits charges
Rolls-Royce rip-off: Gang vice-president and lawyer concede money laundering in surprise change of plea
The vice-president of the Comancheros and an Auckland lawyer have admitted laundering millions of dollars for the outlaw motorcycle gang.
Tyson Daniels, second-incommand of the gang’s Auckland chapter, changed his stance and pleaded guilty in the High Court at Auckland yesterday to nine counts of money laundering.
Lawyer Andrew Neill Simpson pleaded guilty to 13 charges of money laundering, crimes he committed while a solicitor at a private legal practice in Auckland’s west.
Simpson, who has a young family, played a key role in facilitating the laundering of $2.4m through his law firm’s trust account.
His identity had been suppressed but the interim order was lifted yesterday.
More than $1.2m in cash was deposited into Simpson’s trust account, which was also used to purchase some of the cars belonging to Daniels and allegedly others in the gang.
The lawyer was convicted by Justice Moore and released on bail until his sentencing in February.
“A sentence of home detention is far from assured,” the judge told Simpson.
The surprise admissions of guilt by Daniels and Simpson come as others, including Comanchero president
Pasilika Naufahu, maintain their not guilty pleas and head towards a High Court trial next September.
Others arrested in Operation Nova include an accountant and media personality, who have interim name suppression.
A charge of participating in an organised criminal group between May 2017 and April 2019 was also admitted by Daniels, a 30-year-old who was living in the affluent Auckland suburb of Mellons Bay until his arrest in April.
The money-laundering charges came from Daniels buying a swag of expensive vehicles.
There were four Range Rovers with price tags of $175,000, $255,000, $218,000 and $280,000, a $200,000
Mercedes Benz, a Lamborghini for $285,000, and two Rolls-Royces, which cost $364,000 and $595,000.
The luxury fleet was seized in April when police raided Daniels and other members of the Comancheros, as well as associates, after the year-long investigation.
Yet, just one month after his arrest, Daniels bought another Mercedes Benz for $215,000 and another $247,000 was found in the home.
The police allege the Comancheros, an Australian gang that set up shop in New Zealand after a number of senior members were deported here, are behind significant drug smuggling linked to a Mexican cartel.
Daniels was not charged with any drug offences.
He was convicted and remanded in custody by Justice Simon Moore until his sentencing in February.
The raids across Auckland were the second termination phase of Operation Nova, an investigation into the gang, the alleged importing of drugs into the New Zealand and the laundering of millions of dollars.
The first phase was announced in February but there was no mention then of any links to the Comancheros gang.
Customs officers found 5kg of methamphetamine hidden inside cooking appliances, leading police to find another 6kg of the Class-A drug. Four people were arrested in Auckland.