The charges recently laid by the Companies Office against Lu Zhang for her alleged offences against s. 373 of the Companies Office Act 1993 – signals a new era of reform: a war against the abuse of the Companies Office register by unscrupulous company directors. By providing false residential and/or registered office addresses they seek to avoid full accountability to enforcement agencies, evade authorities and hide financial matters. Full credit to reporter Michael Field of Fairfax Media who broke the story about multiple shell companies operating out of an Auckland Queen Street building and their alleged links to illegal arms trafficking involving North Korea.
Criminal activities linked to prostitution and human trafficking, the international porn trade, drug and weapons trafficking, have all been linked to money laundering of the proceeds of crime.