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gzt

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#3530511 24-Sep-2026 15:55

PolicyGuy:
richms: What law would the person who got the laptop be breaking? Surely its just like any other telehousing operation.

Fraudulently misrepresenting that they were the person doing the work? Conspiracy? Participating in an organised criminal gang? Money laundering? Accessing computer system for dishonest purpose? Probably something in the Tax Administration Act?

There's got to be lots of things he could be charged with. Then the Crown opposes bail because since he was working for North Korea he must be a flight risk. Even if the chances of securing a conviction are only 50:50, they can make his life completely miserable for a very long time

The level of intent and knowledge is not clear in the article. The article does not mention any charges. The article does not mention any court action or bail. Full cooperation with NZ authorities seems more likely. This kind of thing has been going on for a long time in USA. I guess it's inevitable there will be cases in NZ.

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#3530512 24-Sep-2026 15:57

freitasm:

Engaging in an operation with a sanctioned country?

Difficult to prove - the NK agent would have gone out of their way to pretend to be anything else. But there must be something else that they could be charged with. They knew they were doing something dodgy even if they didn't know what.

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#3530513 24-Sep-2026 15:57

To me pretending to work for an employer is dodgy full stop.

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#3530514 24-Sep-2026 16:01

KiwiSurfer: To me pretending to work for an employer is dodgy full stop.

I think you're assuming the person hosting the laptop and the person pretending to work are the same person. The article is not great at being clear about who did what. I'd guess they don't have that information and have done the best they can with what was provided.

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#3530515 24-Sep-2026 16:08

gzt:
KiwiSurfer: To me pretending to work for an employer is dodgy full stop.

I think you're assuming the person hosting the laptop and the person pretending to work are the same person. The article is not great at being clear about who did what. I'd guess they don't have that information and have done the best they can with what was provided.

My reading is that the person with the laptop is a local, not the NK agent. The local would have had to know they were involved in something shady, probably illegal. But much less likely knew that they were aiding a North Korean agent. And unless they can find an email that said 'Hi, I'm a North Korean agent, can I borrow your laptop?' it will be nearly impossible to make that part stick.

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#3530516 24-Sep-2026 16:14

The local would have had to know they were involved in something shady, probably illegal.

I don't see any indication of the that in the article. What is your reasoning there?

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#3530571 24-Sep-2026 17:25

What's not shady about "go to this company, give someone else's name and pick up thousands of dollars worth of equipment"?

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#3530574 24-Sep-2026 17:42

Behodar: What's not shady about "go to this company, give someone else's name and pick up thousands of dollars worth of equipment"?

There is absolutely nothing in that particular article to indicate your scenario occurred.

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#3530578 24-Sep-2026 18:58

gzt:
Behodar: What's not shady about "go to this company, give someone else's name and pick up thousands of dollars worth of equipment"?

There is absolutely nothing in that particular article to indicate your scenario occurred.

To gain employment, the North Korean worker used a false persona including fake identity documents, a New Zealand address as a contact point, and paid a New Zealand citizen to receive and operate the company’s laptop.

Seems pretty clear to me.

EDIT: I didn't look at the original link and notice it was RNZ - the Stuff article has this quote in it.

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#3530580 24-Sep-2026 19:08

Behodar's claim is that the NZ Citizen picked up the laptop from company x.

New Zealand citizen to receive and operate the company’s laptop.

Does not definitely indicate that the citizen uplifted the laptop from company x. The wording in the linked article 'receive' is used multiple times and is entirely compatible with courier for example. At some point I guess something definitive will be published.

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#3530591 24-Sep-2026 20:13

gzt: Behodar's claim is that the NZ Citizen picked up the laptop from company x.

New Zealand citizen to receive and operate the company’s laptop.

Does not definitely indicate that the citizen uplifted the laptop from company x. The wording in the linked article 'receive' is used multiple times and is entirely compatible with courier for example. At some point I guess something definitive will be published.

Couriers don't tend to 'operate' the packages they receive but I guess it's possible.

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gzt

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#3530592 24-Sep-2026 20:15

Well that had not occured to me : ).

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#3530595 24-Sep-2026 20:27

It will be significantly easier for enterprising couriers to provide mobile hosting services when courier vans go electric. Although I understand there is already some guy in the USA providing hosting services powered by gas turbines. That sounds like a great idea for our government to look into.

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#3530596 24-Sep-2026 20:34

gzt: It will be significantly easier for enterprising couriers to provide mobile hosting services when courier vans go electric. Although I understand there is already some guy in the USA providing hosting services powered by gas turbines. That sounds like a great idea for our government to look into.

Ah, it's too bad they sold the Skyhawks.

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