A media release from the FMA follows an investigation into market manipulation on the NZX:

"""The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko has filed High Court civil proceedings against Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, an experienced retail investor based in Auckland, for alleged market manipulation of NZX-listed shares of Steel and Tube Holdings Limited (STU).

In New Zealand unemployment is up to 30 year highs, and as a corollary so are KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals: not really rocket science.

However, the machinery of our state media has found it fit to take an alternative narrative to the reality on the ground, and suggest KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals are being gamed. Those poor fund managers!

In welcome news, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act is still being enforced. One is often left to wonder if it is, when companies are openly trading "crypto", paying reluctant lip service to the issue and lobbying against it in the comment sections of our news outlets.

As part of cataloging the crypto scams proliferating in New Zealand, I just want to share a link to an article from the Herald one year ago, which reads like it could be just as true today.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pensioner-loses-224k-after-being-tricked-by-ai-deepfake-christopher-luxon-cryptocurrency-investment-scam/YLG3EQMOAZATVARBL5ITDRL2DA/

An interesting observation I'd like to share from watching Bloomberg data, is that Bitcoin prices slid on the news that the straight of Hormuz might be blocked by Iran as part of it's undeclared war on Israel. But why is that? Bitcoin bros are normally hyping up their scam as some WW3-proof system that will survive Nuclear Armageddon.

Stuff are reporting a person accused of defrauding the social welfare system promptly left NZ after being accused by Police, on a one-way ticket to the USA.

The article notes Police said the woman is accused of failing to declare assets (property interests) when reporting income and assets to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), also known widely as the (department-of) Work and Income New Zealand (or WINZ).

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) are reporting suspected vandalism is behind a sizeable Chorus (fibre-to-the-home) Internet outage affecting 950 Auckland homes. 

Chorus delivered GPON circuits of up to 1GBit/s appear to be affected.

This is the second such incident in a year.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/561343/suspected-vandalism-behind-internet-outage-affecting-950-auckland-homes

Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard

A Wellington-based man was arrested by the Financial Crime Group in Auckland this morning as part of an FBI investigation into an organised criminal group who stole cryptocurrency from seven victims valued at US$265M (NZD$450M).

Between March and August 2024, the cryptocurrency is alleged to have been fraudulently obtained by manipulating the victims and subsequently laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms.

SFO Press Release 15 May 2025

https://www.sfo.govt.nz/media-cases/media-releases/serious-fraud-office-campaign-to-tackle-foreign-bribery

Headlines were made here in New Zealand about a recent abduction attempt upon the family of a crypto exchange and payment system provider in France. Fortunately the attempt was unsuccessful, owing to intervention by members of the public: bravo to them.