[CPProt.net] Auckland man pleads guilty to theft of valuable greenstone carving and five paintings from Queenstown

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

 Pounamu theft guilty plea
 25 October 2005
 
 
 
Auckland man pleads guilty to theft of valuable greenstone carving and five
paintings from Queenstown  
 
 
An Auckland man has pleaded guilty to receiving a 100-thousand-dollar
pounamu carving stolen in Queenstown four years ago.

Kerry Thomas appeared in the North Shore District Court today, and will be
sentenced in December.

The representation of a Maori war canoe was stolen from the Opal Centre.
Police found it buried in the town's CBD last month.

They say inquiries into who stole the carving are focusing on one person.

Thomas also pleaded guilty to 21 burglary charges, including the theft of
five paintings from Queenstown's St Moritz Hotel, also in 2001.

Police found the stash under a false garage floor in the resort last year. 

http://www.crime.co.nz/displaynews.asp?id=56144