Police who had been called to reports of two men fighting conducted a warrantless search on July 19, 2024.
Along with drugs, officers found $14,980 in a black shoulder bag and $920 in a jacket pocket.
Just under a year later, on June 19, 2025, police returned to Jacobs’ house and found $10,090 in a bag in his Ford Territory vehicle.
In the judgment in the High Court at Rotorua, Justice Layne Harvey agreed the $25,990 was “tainted” and Jacobs had unlawfully benefited from significant criminal activity.
Under the law, police did not need to prove the money found was directly derived from drug dealing, but inferences could be drawn around disparity of assets and legitimate income and any lack of credible explanation, the judgment said.
The forfeiture order was sought by the police under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act in February and Justice Harvey released his judgment in March. Details of the case have just been released publicly.
They show analysis of Jacobs’ phone indicated he had access to large amounts of cash, including buying 1kg of methamphetamine for $120,000.
The law
The police’s powers to strip assets believed to be gained from crime were strengthened in 2009 as the result of a law change.
Before then, police needed to secure a conviction to take assets from criminals.
Detectives no longer need a conviction and only have to show that someone profited from criminal offending to the lower standard of proof applied in civil cases – “on the balance of probabilities” – rather than surpassing the more difficult “beyond reasonable doubt” threshold for criminal cases.
Drug dealers need realise they risk all their assets being seized, according to police. Photo / NZME
Asset seizure cases often, but not always, run parallel to criminal prosecutions.
Police apply to a High Court judge, usually without warning so suspected criminals and their associates do not have time to hide or sell the assets.
Frozen assets are held by the Official Assignee, a government body that administers bankruptcies, until the High Court rules on whether they should be permanently forfeited to the Crown. The process takes two years on average, but the most complex cases last much longer.
An NZ Herald investigation in 2021 showed more than $1 billion of alleged criminal wealth had been frozen in New Zealand since the law was strengthened.
Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard, who is the field crime manager with the Central Asset Recovery Unit, told the Rotorua Daily Post higher-end criminals needed to calculate if the risk was worth it.
He said criminals, such as drug dealers, needed to take into account the possibility of losing cars and even homes, on top of standard sentences such as jail time.
He said police did not need to prove assets were directly bought with criminal funds, and it was not uncommon for homes that had been handed down in inheritance situations to be taken by the Crown.
“It’s not unusual for them to be pretty unhappy. They are happy to go to prison for it, do their time and then come out and enjoy the fruits of their labour, but we are stopping that from happening.”
Barnard said New Zealand was recognised as a world leader in such confiscations.
“We are very effective in recovering criminal proceeds.”
He said there was a clear message.
“If they are committing a crime, then they can expect a knock at the door.”
Police figures supplied to the Rotorua Daily Post showed there were 168 cases nationwide so far in the 2025 to 2026 year that had been subject to the act.
Some $95.48m worth of assets had been restrained by authorities and $22.55m worth had been successfully forfeited.
There were 19 cases in the Bay of Plenty involving $2.1m in restrained assets and $1.62m in forfeited assets, but those regional figures excluded cases that were part of national operations.
What is the Proceeds of Crime Fund?
The Proceeds of Crime Fund was established in 2009 and is administered by the Ministry of Justice.
Once all legal matters are addressed under the act, the recovered money is placed in the contestable Proceeds of Crime Fund.
The purpose of the fund is then used to provide a range of targeted interventions that reduce violent crime, such as drug counselling and rehabilitation programmes.
Applications for the current funding round close on May 29.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.