Police analyst describes cash ‘from unknown sources’
The police say cash deposits totalling $260,695 into the bank accounts of Hugh James Robinson’s health food and supplements business were from unknown sources and not from shop sales.
The evidence was given by Melanie Van der Pol, a financial analyst with the police’s Financial Crime Group, who said she was familiar with money laundering techniques and investigations.
She said she had analysed the bank accounts of 61-year-old Robinson and his business, High Performance Health, in Sydenham.
She said she had been to the business’ small shop in Carlyle Street when the police conducted a series of searches at the end of their Operation Nebraska investigation in October 2013.
She told the fourth day of Robinson’s trial on class C drugs charges before Judge Alistair Garland and a jury in the Christchurch District Court that she had analysed 57 months of banking records.
She found that the business conducted most sales at the shop by eft-pos, which did not generate cash. Daily sales sheets recording sales at the shop were found, and she had examined those.
Over the period she examined, there were cash deposits of $616,049 into the company’s bank account. She told the jury: “Of all these cash deposits to High Performance Health, I would consider that $260,695 of those are from unknown sources of funds and not from shop sales.”
She said there appeared to be “co-mingling” of money with the business’ legitimate finances to give the appearance of a legitimate source of the funds. This was a money laundering technique.
She said the accounts also showed deposits totalling $115,220, all made in cash by Robinson, which were listed as loans or loan repayments from his wife. Her accounts showed she had little funds and there were no cash withdrawals which corresponded to these deposits by Robinson.
It appeared Robinson was “structuring” his deposits to avoid the banks’ requirements under the anti-money laundering measures, to report suspicious cash deposits of more than $10,000. She described deposits being made for smaller amounts, at different branches, on the same day.
Robinson denies charges of conspiracy to sell the class C drug BZP, four charges of possessing the drug for sale, and unlawful possession of the sawn-off shotgun and 115 twelve-gauge shotgun shells.
The Crown has said the locations searched in Christchurch included Robinson’s home in Riccarton, his car, his health product business in Carlyle Street, Sydenham, and a lock-up he rented in Russley Road. The class C drugs were found at each place, and a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition was found at the lock-up.
Crown prosecutor Deidre Orchard told the trial on Monday that the police found between 6000 and 8000 doses of party pills – benzyl piperazine, which was made illegal in 2008 – which had a street value of between $180,000 and $240,000. At a wholesale level, it would have been worth up to $56,000.
Cross examined by defence counsel Richard Maze, Miss Van der Pol accepted that she had not done an analysis of the business’ stock or stock records. She was aware that the business was a manufacturing business. She believed it manufactured the products it sold.
Mr Maze said her opinion was based on the premise that the business’ daily sales records were a complete and wholly accurate record of its transactions.
She accepted that the reason she said the cash deposits were suspicious was because she could not marry them up with sales.
The cross-examination will continue on the fifth day of the trial.
Category: Focus
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