This time, the outlaw motorcycle gang engaged the services of an accountant to manage their financial affairs.<\/p>\n
The most significant investment was a three-storey home in Half Moon Bay purchased for $3.8m in August 2023.<\/p>\n
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom dwelling has a pool and panoramic views of the Hauraki Gulf stretching from the marina to Rangitoto Island.<\/p>\n
The property was registered in the name of Viliami Havea but he never lived at the address.<\/p>\n
Instead, Naufahu\u2019s wife moved into the palatial home with their family.<\/p>\n
Court documents show that the accountant, who has interim name suppression, had earlier incorporated a company in the name of Havea, who was an associate of the Comancheros, in March 2023.<\/p>\n
Over the next six months, more than $3m was deposited into the bank account of Havea\u2019s new business, which was purported to be a construction firm, in 76 transactions.<\/p>\n
The funds had been paid by shell companies based overseas.<\/p>\n
As well as paying the deposit of $250,000, Havea later completed the house purchase with payments of nearly $1.8 million into his lawyer\u2019s trust account and a mortgage.<\/p>\n
However, the mortgage was secured with forged tax returns which claimed that Havea had an annual income of more than $700,000. <\/p>\n
That same year, Havea bought two businesses, a bar and neighbouring cafe in a small town north of Auckland, for just over $1.8 million.<\/p>\n
The hospitality businesses were later sold by Havea to new owners shortly before Operation Scuba ended in March 2024. <\/p>\n
The Half Moon Bay mansion was restrained under the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act.<\/p>\n
Under the law, police do not need to secure a conviction for frozen assets to be eventually forfeited.<\/p>\n
They only have to show that someone profited from criminal offending to the lower standard of proof applied in civil cases \u2013 \u201con the balance of probabilities\u201d \u2013 rather than surpassing the more difficult \u201cbeyond reasonable doubt\u201d threshold for criminal cases.<\/p>\n
Frozen assets are managed by the Official Assignee until a High Court judge rules on whether the assets should be permanently forfeited.<\/p>\n
In this case, the property was sold at a mortgagee sale for $2,505,000 in July 2024.<\/p>\n
The Comancheros motorcycle gang paid $3.8 million for a mansion in the upmarket Auckland suburb of Half Moon Bay with panoramic views of the Hauraki Gulf. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
While Havea\u2019s name was listed on the paperwork for the Half Moon Bay address and the hospitality businesses, Operation Scuba alleged that Pasilika Naufahu was the true owner.<\/p>\n
For more than two years, the Comancheros president – who has been described by detectives as a charismatic figure in court – maintained his innocence. <\/p>\n
But on the eve of the trial in the Auckland District Court this month, Naufahu changed his mind.<\/p>\n
He pleaded guilty to participating in an organised criminal group and three counts of money laundering: nearly $1.8m for the Half Moon Bay house, about $99,000 in mortgage repayments, and more than $1m for the two businesses.<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old will be sentenced in July.<\/p>\n
Viliami Havea also admitted multiple counts of money laundering, as well as using an altered document and obtaining by deception in relation to the false mortgage documents.<\/p>\n
The accountant denied all the criminal charges against him. <\/p>\n
However, he was found guilty of money laundering, false accounting, using an altered document, obtaining by deception and participating in an organised criminal group following a trial at the Auckland District Court this month.<\/p>\n
The accountant will also be sentenced in July.<\/p>\n
Comancheros president Pasilika Naufahu is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for drug and money laundering offences. His time in prison is expected to be longer after he recently admitted new money laundering charges. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
With Naufahu now admitting to the money laundering offences in Operation Scuba, the Herald can now reveal the Comancheros boss was also accused of smuggling 199kg of drugs while behind bars.<\/p>\n
Two other Comancheros, Ulakai Fakaosilea and Jalal Safi, had already admitted using cellphones smuggled into prison to orchestrate the massive meth shipment which was hidden inside wheat thresher machines from Dubai.<\/p>\n
They did not implicate their leader and there was no direct evidence tying Naufahu to the drug bust.<\/p>\n