Gun City staff charged with fraud after allegedly helping divert firearms to black market

Gun City staff have been charged with fraud after allegedly helping divert firearms to black market. Photo / NZH

Staff members at New Zealand’s largest firearms retailer allegedly abused their position of trust to forge sales records of guns that are highly prized in the criminal underworld.

The Herald can reveal that two men charged with fraud and firearms offences in the District Court this week worked at a Gun City store at the time of the alleged offending.

The pair were arrested following a covert investigation by the National Organised Crime Group into the alleged retail diversion of a firearm which has become the gangster’s gun of choice.

Alfa Carbine rifles have become popular with criminals because they can easily be cut down into pistols, which are easier to conceal and wield, and have been used in several gang shootings.

The revolver doesn’t eject shell casings to leave behind as incriminating evidence.

It is also suspected of being the murder weapon in the Ponsonby Rd shooting in May.

In recent years, police investigating the illegal supply of firearms have uncovered dozens of licensed gun owners who bought Alfa Carbines for unlicensed associates.

The tactic is known as using a “straw buyer”, or retail diversion, which police now believe is the most common way for firearms to end up in criminal hands.

The trend was first discovered when the specialist firearms investigation team started collecting and analysing more than 350,000 sales records over a four-year period.

The detectives soon noticed patterns of individuals buying large numbers of Alfa Carbines, which sell for between $1699 and $2499, in a short period - sometimes on the same day - and flagged them for further investigation.

So far, 15 licensed firearms owners have been prosecuted as “straw buyers” of the rifles.

But the most recent police investigation focused on two men who worked at a Gun City store, and allegedly created false sales records of Alfa Carbines.

This alleged fraud was to conceal the identity of a third man whom police believe supplied the firearms onto the black market.

Court documents reveal the two men who worked at Gun City at the time of the alleged offending have been jointly charged with dishonestly using a document for a pecuniary advantage.

The document used in the alleged fraud was the “Arms Book” of the store, in which the retailer is legally obliged to record the details of anyone purchasing a firearm.

The joint fraud charge relates to a sale of three Alfa Carbines for $5500 in April 2022.

Police allege the pair fraudulently listed the sale against the name of a legitimate firearms licence holder without their knowledge, but then provided the guns to a third man.

The trio have been charged with unlawful possession of the three firearms.

Another sale of Alfa Carbines the following month was also investigated by Operation Snoo.

On this occasion, one of the men allegedly acted on his own to register the $9700 sale of five firearms against the name of a different associate.

Again, the firearms were allegedly supplied to the same buyer from the earlier sale.

Gun City owner David Tipple did not respond to a request for comment.

In total, police allege at least 19 Alfa Carbines were purchased and diverted by various individuals between October 2021 and May 2022.

“It is extremely disappointing to see that the efforts of police, Te Tari Pūreke [the Firearms Safety Authority], and the wider firearms community being undermined by the irresponsible actions of a few individuals, particularly those industry insiders within dealers and in positions of trust,” Detective Inspector Albie Alexander said.

“This further demonstrates the need for firearms retailers to remain vigilant and ensure they are meeting their obligations, along with the need for a register so police and Te Tari Pūreke can trace back this unlawful activity.”

Two Alfa Carbine rifles cut down to pistols were found in the possession of a former Hells Angel during Operation Carbine in 2022. Photo / Supplied

Earlier this year, the growing problem with Alfa Carbines was disclosed in a police briefing to Nicole McKee, the Associate Justice Minister who holds the firearms portfolio, and a group of experts advising her.

The presentation highlighted numerous investigations into the retail diversion of the firearm, including a former Hells Angel who recruited a network of “straw buyers” to spend $50,000 on the guns and ammunition.

Some were sold to members of the Mongrel Mob, others were delivered to the Killer Beez gang in Auckland during a turf war with the Tribesmen in 2022.

Other investigations revealed a 75-year-old man and his daughter purchased 11 Alfa Carbines for relatives with links to the Comancheros gang, and that former rugby star Matua Parkinson supplied five to a member of the same gang.

These cases are not isolated, according to the police. A total of 227 - or 29 per cent of all Alfa Carbines shipped into New Zealand - are suspected of being slipped into the black market.

“Given the number we can’t account for yet, it is concerning,” Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Beal said previously.

“What we saw was one particular firearm disproportionately turning up in crime scenes, or in the possession of gang members, with alarming regularity. Our belief is that a large number are in the criminal underworld.”

Police were so concerned about the number of diverted Alfa Carbines that they blocked the most recent application by a gun retailer to import the firearms from the Czech Republic, Beal confirmed.

The proposed importer was Gun City, New Zealand’s largest retailer of firearms, which had sold nearly all of the Alfa Carbines in the country.

Owner David Tipple has previously said legitimate gun owners were frustrated at straw buyers misusing their licence to supply a firearm to someone who doesn’t.

“It’s even worse if they know that person has humans in their mind as targets and the penalty is home detention.”

He advocated for harsher penalties for anyone caught diverting firearms into the black market, especially those instances that led to a murder.

But Tipple questioned whether blocking the imports of Alfa Carbines would improve public safety, and said there was no way to reliably protect the public by removing something that might be used as a weapon.

As examples, he cited the use of rocks and pencils in murders, terrorists driving trucks into crowds, and knife crime in London.

Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.