A 72-year-old man was arrested in South Auckland on Tuesday after financial crime officers "zeroed in on a million dollar fake investment scam duping Kiwis out of their savings".
A police spokesperson announced the arrest in a statement this morning.
Detective Senior Sergeant Ryan Bunting called it "a significant development in what is a complex area of investigation".
"Police making enquiries at the address located and seized a number of documents and computer equipment believed to be linked to the alleged offending," he said. "The male will face ten counts of money laundering, which is alleged to involve around $1.775 million dollars' worth of money changing hands.
"We have previously engaged with our overseas counterparts and will continue to do so as our enquiries progress."
The man is set to appear in Manukau District Court tomorrow, and police said further charges can't be ruled out.
"At this matter is now before the Court, police are limited in further comment.
"Sadly, in general, police see no shortage of fraud files coming across our desks."
Anyone who believes they've been a victim of fraud was urged to call police on 105 or to report the incident online.
"Unfortunately, there are a number of esurient people both here in New Zealand and abroad who seek to cause harm to vulnerable members of our community by scamming them out of their earnings," Bunting said.
And police pointed to a number of websites containing scam protection information including the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Financial Markets Authority and CERT NZ.
SHARE ME