Treasure-seeker trio defiant in money-laundering trial

Three treasure seekers facing million-dollar money-laundering charges have told a New Zealand court they do not recognise its authority.

In the High Court at Auckland yesterday lawyers representing the men - one New Zealander and two Australians - told a registrar hearing evidence for Australian authorities that they did not accept the court's authority.

Christopher Paul Woolgrove, Lawrence Phillips and John Lancelot Carson each face two charges of laundering more than $1.15 million obtained through salvage from shipwrecks in Southeast Asia.

The High Court at Auckland will spend the next three days hearing evidence for the Australian Director Of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the trial, which is expected to be held in Brisbane next year.

The DPP claimed Woolgrove used a trust scheme to launder the proceeds of salvage operations, which last year recovered 17th-century porcelain now on show at Harrods in London.

- NZPA