The Auckland District Court has today imposed a sentence of 5 months home detention against William Yan in relation to one charge of money laundering. A condition of the sentence allows him to undertake specific employment responsibilities upon approval of his Probation officer.
Yan pleaded guilty to one representative charge of money laundering on 2 March 2017. Today’s sentence follows the announcement by Police in August 2016 of a $42.85m forfeiture order against Yan and two associates, which was the single largest forfeiture order imposed in New Zealand at the time.
While that was full and final settlement of proceedings from a civil perspective under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009, Police were also conducting a criminal investigation under section 243 of the Crimes Act 1961.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Hamilton of the Waikato Asset Recovery Unit says the outcome sends a clear message to those who think they can profit from crime:
“This was a complex investigation which commenced in August 2014 into the laundering of large sums of money derived from a series of frauds perpetrated in China between 1999 and 2001.
“Even when offending occurs overseas we will thoroughly investigate, and consider all the options available to us from both a criminal and civil perspective.
“It demonstrates we have the legislation and investigative capability to hold those to account who profit from offending overseas, even when they are living in New Zealand.
“It also demonstrates the effectiveness of our relationships with overseas law enforcement agencies, in this instance with China.” said Mr Hamilton.
Agreement has also been reached on how the funds recovered under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 will be shared with the Chinese Government. $27.85m will go to China and $15m is being retained by the New Zealand Government.
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Issued by Police Media Centre