KEY POINTS:
A Christchurch man has told how he borrowed money and paid $17,000 in $100 bills to get back his two limited edition Holdens which the crown alleges had been "car-napped".
The man said he had offered $5000 reward for the cars, but when he was contacted he was told it was not good enough and the price was "17,000 ransom", he told a depositions hearing in Christchurch District Court today.
Five people face charges over the crown allegations of blackmail, burglary, and receiving relating to the burglary in which a Holden Senator and a Holden Walkinshaw were taken, Court News website reports.
The Senator was one of only 63 made with manual controls and there may be only three of the Walkinshaws in Christchurch. They had a total value of $66,000.
Michael Anthony James, 46, Shaun Thomas Guest, 29, both unemployed, and Craig Phillip Barron, 42, a panel beater, all face charges of burglary, blackmail, and receiving.
Company director Peter Richard Boyd, 54, is charged with blackmail and receiving, and Kylie Jane Mackenzie, 33, faces a charge of receiving.
Justices of the Peace Margo McKay and Nick Atkins heard details of the police sting that led to the five arrests, after the owner of the cars reported what was happening.
The burglary of the Spreydon house happened on March 5, when $3400 worth of items including cameras, Playstation and games, a DVD player and telephones were taken as well as the cars.
The truck driver who owned them said he offered a $5000 reward and was contacted by a friend two weeks later who said someone was trying to contact him about the cars. He was put in touch with Boyd, who said he knew somebody had said something about cars going missing and being stored in Papanui. They were to be moved to a new location.
Boyd asked if it was worthwhile spending time on it and the owner said the reward was $5000. Boyd said he didn't think it was enough.
He called again two weeks later and said a man had approached him in his shop and said he knew where the cars were but the $5000 reward wasn't enough. "It was $17,000 ransom," the witness told the court.
The owner was in touch with the police who wired him with a microphone so that a series of meetings were recorded, and they later retrieved text messages. The owner was shown digital pictures of his cars - a sheet produced in court as an exhibit.
The owner borrowed $17,000 and gave it to the police for a night. They photocopied all the notes and the owner had to sign a waiver before he handed it over to Boyd, who had to tape a paper bag in his shop window as a signal that he had the cash.
The owner said he then got messages telling him he could pick one of them up in Wakefield Street in Sumner and the other in Poulson Street, Addington. The second one had been left parked with the engine idling.
A supermarket receipt found in the Sumner car was produced as evidence. Crown prosecutor Tim Mackenzie said a friend of Kylie Mackenzie had used the vehicle and left the receipt in it. The crown believed it had been stored at Mackenzie's place near where it was recovered.
He said James' vehicle was found with $13,000 of the photocopied cash and Guest was found with $1000 of it.
The depositions hearing is expected to last several days.
- NZPA
