Auckland businessman found guilty of money laundering in connection with $2m investment scam

Beca costings expert Carel Johannes Viljoen was found guilty in Auckland District Court on two counts of money laundering in connection with a $2 million offshore investment scam. Photo / Alyse Wright

• Auckland businessman Carel Johannes Viljoen was found guilty of money laundering after receiving nearly $2 million from scam victims.
• Viljoen claimed he was unaware of the illegal activity, but the court found him reckless.
• He faces up to seven years in jail, with sentencing scheduled for June.

A professional Auckland businessman has been found guilty of money laundering after he opened a Westpac account, received nearly $2 million from two scam victims, then funnelled their life savings overseas.

However, “money mule” Carel Johannes Viljoen – who earned about $60,000 in commission – claims he had no idea he was involved in illegal activity.

He said he took steps to check the unusual financial arrangement was “above board”, but both he and Westpac were “fooled” by the sophisticated offshore investment fraud.

Viljoen, 61, is employed as a principal with infrastructure giant Beca, responsible for costing major projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including the Waterview Tunnel and North Shore police station.

He went on trial this week in Auckland District Court facing two money laundering charges in connection with a series of money transfers in January 2023.

He was found guilty on Wednesday afternoon and faces up to seven years in jail when he is sentenced later this year.

He has had interim name suppression since his arrest in June 2023 after Beca claimed that identifying him would cause the business undue hardship.

The company said there were only two people in the country that could do Viljoen’s job and Beca would likely have to terminate him should his name be publicised in connection with laundering scam proceeds.

But Judge Stephen Bonnar, KC, refused to continue suppression after the verdicts were delivered, saying the South African-born businessman had been found guilty of serious criminal offending and should now be named.

The victims - Northland retiree Steven Fan and now deceased pensioner Anthony Lipanovic - had been searching online for investment opportunities in December 2022. They stumbled across a website for Magnitude Financial where they registered their details.

Both men were then called by someone purporting to be a Magnitude Financial adviser who convinced them to invest in high interest bonds with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The victims were told the bonds were a secure investment, backed by the Australian Government. They were sent prospectus information including links to glowing media articles about the company, and later payment instructions for the defendant’s Queen Street Westpac account.

Fan transferred just shy of $1m on January 13, 2023. Lipanovic transferred $950,000 on January 21.

Around $500,000 was later recovered, but most of the money was lost.

Beaming into the court by audio visual link this week, Fan said he was an “ordinary person” and thought he had done sufficient due diligence on the investment proposal.

“I spent ages on the website checking the links and I thought it was okay.

“All these things are complicated to me. I’m not a businessman. I’m sure many people would make the same mistake.”

He was told the money was being sent to an “escrow” account where the funds would be held until both parties were satisfied with the trade.

“I didn’t question that. I’m not an expert. ‘That’s how it is,' I thought.”

Lipanovic gave a police statement after the fraud came to light but died before the matter went to trial.

Carel Johannes Viljoen, 61, claimed he sought assurance from Westpac Bank that the financial scheme was above board before transferring nearly $2m in stolen money overseas. Photo / Alyse Wright

The court heard Viljoen had been contacted about taking part in the scheme by his brother in South Africa, and agreed to set up an account to receive investor payments then transfer the money overseas.

He would receive payment instructions for accounts in Australia and a commission of about 3% for each successful transfer. His brother would receive a similar payment as a “finder’s fee”.

Viljoen told police he was expecting to receive much smaller amounts and was shocked when the first million dollar payment landed in his account.

During opening submissions, defence lawyer Ciara Chester-Cronin said her client tried to conduct due diligence before proceeding with the scheme, which included seeking input from his bank.

“He took various steps to make sure everything he was doing was above board.”

She encouraged the jury to keep an open mind and reiterated that her client denied criminal offending.

Crown prosecutor Taniela-Afu Veikune said the Crown did not allege Viljoen knew he was part of a scam or that he set out to defraud the victims.

But the businessman was “reckless” as to whether the huge cash payments landing in his account were the proceeds of a crime, Veikune said.

The jury was shown a video interview Viljoen made with police in which he was asked about the size of the transactions and the business dealing with his offshore paymasters.

“I don’t trust it,” the man allegedly told police.

“I was anxious as s**t. I was uneasy right from the start.

“This has to stop because there’s something not right about those amounts,” he told a detective.

Viljoen also made a telling statement to police, saying: “I was thinking about money laundering”.

Veikune said those admissions showed Viljoen had concerns about the nature of the money transfers he was involved in, but went ahead anyway.

“He’s on trial for being reckless, not the head of the snake.

“He was a mule, but a mule who saw red flags and carried on.”

Defence lawyer Matthew Goodwin told the court his client was foolish, not reckless. Photo / Sam Hurley

However, lead defence counsel Matthew Goodwin said his client was “foolish” rather than reckless.

Viljoen was a respected professional in his field, earning a good income and with financial security.

He was used to dealing with large amounts of money and did not realise he’d inadvertently become entangled in a scam.

Goodwin said Viljoen would never have become “involved in this mess” if not for his brother’s recommendation.

He trusted his brother and “assumed the scheme was above board”.

“He is another innocent party who unfortunately has been caught up.

“He did not act recklessly. He acted, with the benefit of hindsight, foolishly.”

The jury disagreed, delivering unanimous verdicts on both charges after just three hours' deliberation. Viljoen nodded in the dock as the guilty verdicts were read out.

He was remanded on bail for sentencing in June, when his lawyer indicated he will seek a discharge without conviction.

Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton, who oversees the Auckland City Financial Crime Unit, said Viljoen pocketed $61,581 from both transactions. This money had since been returned.

Bolton said money laundering was not a victimless crime and the case was a wake-up call for other potential mules.

“You should be extremely wary if someone approaches you wanting to do a deal where you receive and move money to different bank accounts, in exchange for a fee.

“Money laundering is a criminal offence.”

The Auckland Financial Crime Unit was investigating several other money laundering cases linked to term deposit scams, which were due before the court this year.

Lane Nichols is Deputy Head of News and a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years' experience in the industry.

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