An entertainer charged in a global sting on organised crime has successfully appealed to keep his name secret.
The entertainer was arrested last June with about 40 others across the country. He’s set to go to trial in May 2023.
After previously losing name suppression at the High Court, he appealed the Court of Appeal.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal issued its judgment, allowing the entertainer to keep suppression until the final disposition of trial.
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The entertainer is jointly charged alongside a number of others, including the alleged heads of the syndicate, Duax and Shane Ngakuru. They remain overseas.
The accused is alleged to have laundered money for the alleged leader of an international drug ring.
He is alleged to have met with a co-defendant where he was given money, which he allegedly used to purchase gold bullion.
The entertainer allegedly travelled to Turkey 10 days later.
NZ POLICE/Supplied
Operation Trojan Shield saw drugs and money seized in which 35 people were arrested and 900 charges laid
The accused has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is set to go to trial in May 2023 at the High Court at Auckland.
At a previous High Court hearing, Ron Mansfield QC acting on behalf of the entertainer, said he was only seeking interim suppression as he needed to be able to work.
His work as an entertainer has taken a hit due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Mansfield said.
“The damage to his reputation would be permanent, even if he was found to be not guilty of these allegations.”
In the Court of Appeal decision, the judges agreed with Mansfield saying without being able to work for 14 months ahead of the trial would have an impact.
Justice Patricia Courtney, Justice Susan Thomas and Justice Ailsa Duffy continued name suppression until the final disposition of the trial.
Denis Poroy/AP
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Randy Grossman spoke at a news conference announcing Operation Trojan in June 2021.
The sting, codenamed Operation Trojan Shield, involved police swoops in 16 countries with more than 800 suspects arrested, aided by an encrypted communications platform developed by the FBI.
The sting was part of a global crackdown on organised crime, described as the “world’s most sophisticated law enforcement action”.
More than nine kilograms of methamphetamine was seized, along with four guns, 14 vehicles and motorbikes, large quantities of cannabis and more than $1m in cash.
Police worked with the FBI, as well as the Australian Federal Police.
New Zealand police said the FBI created closed encryption system, “AN0M”, to monitor people’s communications and for 18 months the alleged offenders were unwittingly using an FBI system to talk about their criminal behaviour.
The users believed their AN0M devices were protected from law enforcement by impenetrable encryption, police said.
Detectives were able to get hold of thousands of messages.
Detective superintendent Greg Williams, director of the New Zealand Police’s national organised crime group, previously said transnational groups were preying on vulnerable people.
