Man jailed following Customs investigation into forged and falsified documents

He was convicted for two charges under the Customs and Excise Act 2018 and 15 charges under the Crimes Act 1961. These were: one charge for making an erroneous or defective entry; one charge for providing false documentation to a Customs officer; one charge for forgery; two charges for obtaining by deception a pecuniary advantage; and 12 charges for using documents to obtain a benefit, knowing the documents to be forged.  

Customs’ investigation began in June 2024 following a tipoff from a business, which had become aware of the defendant’s fraudulent activity. It was established this individual had more than 20 years’ experience in the supply chain industry.

Following further enquiries, Customs carried out a search warrant at the man’s business address in June 2024 and found documents which identified him posing as a freight forwarder or customs broker to falsify information on legitimate shipping documents used to import goods. 

This included changing details about the shipper, receivers, number of packages, weight, and goods descriptions. The defendant would email the victims with false invoices for freight and other handling costs, or waybills, and get them to pre-pay shipping and storage costs for goods that didn’t exist. 

In total, the defendant forged 17 invoices to the value of NZ$35,340.79, of which he received NZ$28,271.25 for 12 invoices.

Acting Chief Customs Officer Fraud and Prohibition, Ares Chui, said this man abused this knowledge of the international supply chain processes and his position of trust for personal gain.

“Customs takes the manipulation of legitimate processes and systems for illegal gain very seriously.

“This type of offending jeopardises industry credibility and can have a big impact on the livelihoods of individuals and small family-run businesses - this is not a victimless crime.

“We are urging traders and clients to remain vigilant against this type of crime. Suspicions about possible fraudulent behaviour can be reported to Customs confidentially on 0800 WE PROTECT or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111,” Mr Chui said.

Protect yourself from similar scams

Look out for: 

• Emails from freight forwarders that you don’t normally deal with requesting immediate payment for freight, storage, or other administrative services
• Shipping documents with date discrepancies
• Offset digits on waybills (waybill numbers)
• Offset or out of place text on waybills or invoices
• Shipping documents for goods that seem inconsistent with the client business.

What to do if you’re suspicious:

• Contact the consignee to confirm they are expecting a shipment
• Check with the shipper to confirm they shipped the goods
• Visit Customs’ Border Protect webpage or call Customs on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) confidentially, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, if you have information regarding unusual or suspicious activity.