Sentencing — money laundering — cryptocurrency — drug money — deferral of commencement of sentence — Sentencing Act 2002, ss 27 & 100(1) — R v Brown HC Auckland CRI-2008-004-020453, 3 February 2011 — R v Karpavicius [2013] NZHC 3095 — R v Le [2018] NZHC 2199 — R v Chase [2018] NZHC 1022 — R v Daniels and Simpson [2020] NZHC 275 — R v Wilson [2022] NZHC 1901 — Zhang v R [2010] NZCA 481. The defendant appeared for sentence after being found guilty on 15 charges of money laundering. The money in question was the proceeds of drug offending; the exact amount was in dispute, but the Court was satisfied that it was at least $18 million. The defendant had received the money and then converted it into cryptocurrency or diverted it into foreign bank accounts. She claimed to be a trusting person who had been naive, but the Court found that she was reckless as to whether the money came from offending. There were no cases involving money laundering on such a large scale, but considering the defendant's knowledge of finances, the sophistication of the offending and the fact that the defendant profited from the offending, the Court set a start point of 10 years' imprisonment. This amount was reduced to recognise the defendant's otherwise good character and her family obligations. The final sentence was seven years six months' imprisonment. The Court deferred the commencement of this sentence for 10 days to allow the defendant to make care arrangements for some of her family members. Judgment Date: 16 November 2023