Cash was from valuable arts sales, trial told
Artworks by Picasso and Salvador Dali will be cited by drug deal accused Hugh James Robinson as the source of some of the cash deposits the police have described as suspicious at his Christchurch District Court trial.
The revelation was made during cross-examination of a police financial analyst on the fifth day of the trial before Judge Alistair Garland a jury.
Defence counsel Richard Maze spent hours questioning the witness, Melanie Van der Pol, and made the nature of 61-year-old Robinson’s defence clear.
Robinson denies charges of conspiracy to sell the class C drug BZP – party pills – as well as 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.
The police have analysed cash deposits by Robinson for his accounts and for his business, High Performance Health, which they said was selling health food and supplements from a small shop in Sydenham. The analyst $260,695 paid into the accounts in cash by Robinson was “from unknown sources”. She assessed it as being money laundering.
But after her evidence, Mr Maze cross-examined her about possible sources of the cash that she had not considered, in her examination of bank accounts, shop sales records, and other documents.
He asked her if she was aware that Robinson’s company had been manufacturing and selling synthetic cannabis at a time when it was still legal. She did not know that.
She had not looked at the business in terms of its stock or manufacturing records.
She had noted that cash deposits had dropped markedly from March 2013.
Mr Maze said this coincided with Robinson’s decision to cease manufacturing synthetic cannabis. He had told the police of this decision in an interview recorded on DVD and played to the trial.
Miss Van der Pol had also pointed out cash transactions totalling $115,200 that were marked in the bank records as loans or loan repayments from Robinson’s wife Svetlana Robinson.
Mr Maze put it to the witness that she had not considered that Mrs Robinson made trips to Russia and brought back cash and assets that were then sold for cash.
Among the assets was “a Picasso that sold for quite a lot of money in cash”, said Mr Maze.
Another was an artwork by the surrealist painter Salvador Dali which also sold for cash, to a buyer whose name was given in court but was then suppressed.
Miss Van der Pol said it was interesting that they had been sold for cash.
After being told who bought the Dali, she said: “It might be interesting where he gets his cash from.”
The trial has been running for five days. It will resume on Monday.
Category: Focus
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