Jamie-Lee Toki (left) and Janik Perera and items that were stolen during a two year theft and burglary ring in Wellington dubbed Operation Trump Card by Police Composite Photo / NZME
A man who sold stolen property on Facebook claims he did not know the items were stolen and was just helping an older person with technology.
But the judge was not buying Janik Perera’s explanation in court today, saying it was implausible, even fanciful, given the nature of the communications between the pair.
Perera, 32, and Jamie-Lee Toki, 30 were sentenced in the High Court at Wellington today for their roles in a large stolen goods ring that operated in the capital.
Toki, 30, earlier admitted six charges of receiving and a charge of obtaining by deception, while Perera admitted one charge of receiving.
The pair were part of a group led by Chin Kok Soon, who last month was jailed as the ringleader of the operation, which netted nearly $3 million in stolen property.
Police targeted the group — which purchased, stored and then onsold thousands of items of stolen property across Wellington — in Operation Trump Card, which spanned most of 2022.
Police seized 6000 stolen items after executing search warrants in October and November of that year.
Soon had connections throughout Wellington and a network of people who were either stealing stolen property from him or selling it on his behalf.
Soon and his associates stashed the stolen property across 16 lockups, four homes, residential garages, vehicles, businesses, a shipping container and even a tiny house still under construction.
The court heard today that Toki was one of the most significant providers of stolen property. She also received stolen goods for Soon.
Justice Grau said Toki obtained property and Soon would either collect it from her or she would drop it off at a storage unit.
The court heard between July and October she was averaging 75 communications every week with Soon, almost entirely about the sale and purchase of stolen property.
There were also 70 bank transactions between the pair between May and September 2022, totalling $36,000.
Text messages indicated Toki sold over $75,000 of items to Soon, many of which were found in a storage unit.
These included scaffolding, a scooter, doors and door frames stolen from construction sites, an e-bike and a caravan, as well as three heat pumps.
Justice Grau said the reports prepared for the court suggested Toki’s offending was related to alcohol and her associates at the time, many of whom were her co-offenders.
Justice Grau said despite a good start in life, Toki had become “unstuck” with problematic alcohol use.
The death of Toki’s father and losing custody of her daughter led Toki to what the judge described as a “very unstructured life”.
“You were drinking and associating with the wrong people. You already had some mental health challenges, and all these seem to have got worse and there was also the fact of an abusive relationship” the judge said.
Justice Grau said things had improved since Toki had been arrested, noting there had been no offending despite a long period spent on bail.
She told Toki she would have to address her issues with alcohol and likely never drink again.
Toki’s lawyer Jason Owers sought a sentence that allowed his client to rehabilitate herself, adding she was keen to give back to the community.
Owers sought a sentence of home detention, which the Crown did not oppose.
Justice Grau said she agreed it was a close call between prison and home detention but there was a greater public interest in Toki being rehabilitated, than sent to prison.
She sentenced Toki to 12 months home detention with special conditions, as well as 100 hours of community work.
“This is not a soft option it will be difficult for you it’s a long time to be cooped up at home” explaining that was why she imposed a sentence of community work.
Meanwhile, lawyer Oliver Crosse sought a discharge without conviction for Perera, describing his client’s offending as “three months of reckless receiving”.
Crosse argued the consequences of a conviction would impact his job in the banking industry and his immigration status, having arrived in New Zealand in 2015.
He told the court there was a “real and appreciable risk” of his client being deported.
Crosse said Perera had helped Soon with his technology issues and hired two storage units after being told Soon had reached his limit in terms of hiring units at the facility.
Crown prosecutor Madeleine Story opposed the application for a discharge without conviction, instead seeking a sentence of community detention and community work.
The court heard that Perera was a tenant at Soon’s house in Newlands.
Perera rented two storage units in his own name, which were used to store the stolen property.
Crosse said Perera didn’t pay for the units and was told they were being used to store extra appliances, which Soon needed for his rental properties.
Perera sold the stolen property on behalf of Soon using his Facebook account including four nail guns, a tool set, a gaming keyboard, four sets of headphones and a gaming console, valued at more than $10,000.
When police searched Soon’s house they also found three stolen cameras in Perera’s bedroom, valued at $5800.
The court heard communications intercepted by the police showed Perera and Soon discussed storage needs and the sale of stolen property.
Justice Grau denied Perera’s application.
She said while there was a risk of deportation, it was also likely that Perera’s positive circumstances may stop or suspend the deportation process.
“The short point is deportation is a possibility, but I consider it is far from inevitable.”
“My assessment is that while there are adverse immigration consequences and potentially of employment consequences, both consequences on the current information are still at a speculative level.”
She sentenced Perera to 3 months' community detention, 50 hours of community work and imposed a nightly curfew.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
A postmortem examination was conducted, and the death is now being treated as suspicious.