Case Study

Our client was an older lady who had been communicating online with people who told her that she had won a large prize.  All she needed to do was travel to Thailand to sign some documents and complete the paper work to claim her prize.  She did so and they gave her a gift on the way home, which happened to a bag with 2 kgs of methamphetamine concealed in the lining.  She was stopped at Auckland airport and charged and arrested for the importation of methamphetamine.

She maintained that she did not know anything about drugs being in the bag.  She never received any money for her efforts.  The starting point if convicted would have been in excess of 10 years’ imprisonment.

After two years of negotiating with the Crown, they finally agreed to withdraw the charge against her.

Our client was unfortunately scammed into going overseas. Scams are very sophisticated with realistic paperwork and people that make it seem real including forged bank documents and statements.

Our client had schizoprenia and mental health issues. It became apparent that her executive functioning was extremely limited. She was a person that was vulnerable and could not tell that she was being scammed.

Legally, you would be guilty if you were reckless – that is if you knew that there was a real possibility that drugs were in the bag and that you continued on regardless.

Firstly, we were able to  evidence by an Australia expert on how international money transfer scams work.  This was prepared to assist our case to educate the jury about the degree of sophistication involved in scams and the lengths that scammers go to.

Secondly we found a neuro-psychologist who was also an expert.  Her evidence demonstrated that our client’s functioning was so limited that she could not pick this was a scam.

These two pieces of evidence were given to the Crown prior to trial. The Crown decided based on this evidence, they could not meet the legal test at trial and the public interest did not justify continuing with the prosecution.  The charges were withdrawn.

Our client went on to live a normal live. Her life would have been very difficult in jail, especially with her mental health issues.