Luck runs out for former Lotto presenter who laundered gold bullion for Comancheros commander

After nearly five years of suppression, it can finally be revealed that Rotorua-based celebrity Russell Harrison hauled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold bars to Turkey at the behest of an international drug ring.

The recording artist and former TVNZ Lotto presenter was among the hundreds of people arrested around the world in 2021.

At the time, local and international law enforcement announced they had carried out an audacious plan to create and promote a fake encrypted messaging app.

Such apps remain popular in the criminal underworld as they offer an extra level of protection from police interception.

However, the fake app was instead funnelling conversations directly to authorities.

Harrison’s suppression lapsed today as he pleaded guilty to money laundering, before Justice Michael Robinson in the High Court at Auckland.

He and three co-defendants appeared via an audio-video feed from a Rotorua courtroom.

The entertainer faces up to seven years’ imprisonment at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for August.

However, his lawyer signalled to the judge today that he will likely be asking for a non-custodial outcome.

According to court documents, Harrison received $420,000 in cash derived from drug trafficking during a clandestine meeting at an Onehunga cemetery in July 2019.

A co-defendant who was with him has pleaded guilty but continues to have name suppression.

Hours later, Harrison used the money to buy six bars of gold bullion from an Auckland gold dealer.

Russell Harrison on stage at Re-Imagine Lakeside 2024. Photo / Laura Smith

Ten days later, he travelled to Turkey and allegedly handed over the gold bars to Duax Ngakuru, a New Zealand citizen touted as the worldwide “supreme commander” of the Comancheros motorcycle gang.

“Customs inspected Mr Harrison before he left the country, and found he was carrying six gold bars in his hand luggage,” stated the summary of facts for his case.

“Mr Harrison was also in possession of a ‘Power of Attorney’ document which had been produced and notarised in Turkey. The document indicated that Mr Harrison was acting as a courier.”

The document didn’t, however, name the gang leader as the intended recipient.

Ngakuru, who was born in Rotorua but raised in Sydney, moved to Turkey from Australia in 2010. He was arrested by Turkish authorities in 2023, accused of having raked in tens of millions of dollars in personal wealth by orchestrating “extremely large-scale” international drug deals.

Comanchero Duax Ngakuru on a luxury yacht in Turkey.

Harrison claimed he became involved in the gold bullion scheme at the request of someone he knew and trusted.

Had the matter gone to trial, it was expected the main issue would have been whether he had intentionally set about laundering the money or whether it was a result of naivety and recklessness.

The entertainer still maintains it was the latter, his lawyer said during today’s brief hearing.

Authorities, however, had earlier pointed to intercepted communications that they argued showed a knowledge of the laundering intent.

The conversations suggested that Harrison had hoped Ngakuru would put up the capital for the entertainer to open a legal medicinal cannabis business in New Zealand, the courts have previously been told.

Harrison was initially accused by authorities of laundering $6 million, but the amount was significantly lowered over the years as the case meandered through the court system. A charge of participating in an organised criminal group was also withdrawn.

Harrison is perhaps best known for his regular appearances on TV as a Lotto presenter for more than a decade in the early 2000s. He’s also appeared in New Zealand movies, including Once Were Warriors sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, and hosted Kai Safari on Māori Television.

Russell Harrison, Kylee King-Turner and Hilary Timmins - Lotto NZ circa 2007.

He’s also performed in theatre and on cruise ships. His musical groups included Russell Harrison and the Brown Boys and The Howard Morrison Trio – a tribute group to the iconic New Zealand singer that also features Morrison’s son.

A Rotorua District Court judge first granted Harrison interim name suppression shortly after his arrest. A more substantial hearing to determine if he should keep suppression until trial was delayed at least three times amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In March 2022, a High Court judge issued a decision declining Harrison’s continued name suppression. Harrison had told the court his 35-year career as an entertainer and master of ceremonies risked being ruined if he was publicly connected to the accusations.

But some distress, embarrassment, and adverse financial consequences are a normal part of awaiting trial on criminal charges, the judge noted, determining that Harrison’s potential troubles did not amount to extreme hardship.

The defendant then took the case to the Court of Appeal, which three months later issued a decision overturning the suppression lift.

The three-judge panel agreed with Harrison that naming him before trial, when all the facts would come out, could result in immediate and long-term harm to his career.

A trial date had initially been set down for May 2023, but was delayed several times as legal issues arose related to the unprecedented fake app police tactic.

Other co-defendants appearing in court today were:

• Pomare James Patrick Pirini, who pleaded guilty to laundering $1,099,400 in drug money.
• Carlo Ripi Maraenui Gear, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine.
• Jack Takimatua Hakaraia Phillips, who admitted to participating in an organised criminal group.

Pirini, a 501 deportee who led the Bay of Plenty chapter of the Comancheros, had also earlier fought for name suppression, arguing that past media coverage of a killing he was involved in would jeopardise his right to a fair trial.

Authorities in Australia had charged Pirini and nine other Comancheros members with murder after a high-profile brawl with the Hells Angels inside Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal.

He was sentenced to prison in 2011 for a reduced charge of manslaughter.

A High Court judge decided in 2022 that there was little chance of a juror recognising Pirini’s name from an Australian prosecution over a decade earlier.

Jurors are prohibited from looking up defendants’ names online, the judge also noted.

While Pirini’s name has been public since then, the law restricts the media from reporting a defendant’s past convictions while awaiting trial on new charges. So today marks the first time since his 2021 arrest that his background can be noted.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.