A Karaka pensioner and respected justice of the peace has has admitted his role in an international fraud in money laundering linked to a $1.8 million international investment scam that defrauded 12 victims, The New Zealand Herald reported.
Despite the plea, no conviction has been entered because his lawyer indicated Sharma intends to apply for a discharge without conviction.
According to The Herald, Sharma faces up to seven years in prison after entering his guilty plea on Friday at the Auckland District Court. Judge Steve Bonnar, KC, granted him bail and set sentencing for January next year.
Sharma, 74, worked as a registered Inland Revenue Department tax agent and was director and shareholder of multiple companies. He has denied wrongdoing since his arrest in January last year and was originally due to stand trial next week.
When approached by The Herald outside court, Sharma declined to comment on his guilty plea. Asked if he had a message for victims, he said that would happen “when I see the judge the next time.”
Court documents stated Sharma used his bank accounts to help offshore criminals siphon nearly $1.8m from New Zealand investors who believed their funds were going into term deposits or government-backed bonds. He claimed he never met the victims but received contracts and passport details through a third party in Australia authorising him to invest the money in Bitcoin.
Before his arrest, Sharma was secretly recorded telling a private investigator that his BNZ bank account had been frozen due to “suspicious activity.” He maintained that he did not know the money was stolen, saying, “I don’t have the money … I am not involved.”
One victim, Deepak Udhani, who lost $100,000, welcomed Sharma’s guilty plea but condemned him as selfish and without ethics. Udhani told The Herald he was horrified Sharma would seek a discharge without conviction, saying he believed the pensioner had stashed the money away “for a rainy day.” He said he had not recovered any of his savings and hoped Sharma would be jailed for the full seven years.
According to The Herald, Udhani also raised concerns that Sharma had been able to continue working as an accountant and tax agent despite the charges. The IRD declined to comment on Sharma’s current registration status, citing privacy rules.
Sharma, who has been a justice of the peace since the 1980s, initially fought to keep his name secret, arguing his reputation, business and mental health would suffer if identified. However, a judge lifted suppression in May, ruling public interest outweighed his right to anonymity.
Police described Sharma as a “money mule” for the offshore syndicate. A summary of facts said he received $1,865,099 into accounts he controlled and personally benefited by about $101,484. The money, obtained between November 2022 and October 2023, was transferred overseas or converted into cryptocurrency, with most of it never recovered.
In an affidavit, Sharma said he had acted on instructions from an Australian company, WIAG, and believed the transactions were legitimate Bitcoin investments. He maintained he did not deal directly with the victims.
Crown prosecutor Pip McNabb said Sharma legitimised the scams by providing New Zealand bank accounts to receive fraudulent funds. She said his expertise as an accountant and tax agent meant the public placed a high level of trust in him and expected vigilance in handling client money.
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