New Zealand Crypto Scam Leads to Murder Charges

A New Zealand woman, Julia DeLuney, has been accused of murdering her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, in an elaborate scheme that involved faking $160,000 in crypto profits. DeLuney, 53, is facing murder charges in Wellington High Court for the death of her mother, which occurred on January 24, 2024, at her Khandallah home. Prosecutors allege that DeLuney staged the scene to make it appear as though her mother had fallen from an attic, but forensic experts concluded that the fatal injuries were inconsistent with such an accident.

Financial records revealed that between January 2023 and January 2024, DeLuney transferred over $90,000 to crypto platforms while accumulating a deficit of $40,902. Two days before Gregory’s death, DeLuney emailed her mother claiming that a crypto investment had generated profits exceeding $160,000, requesting $18,000 for withdrawal fees that experts later testified were “totally false.”

Court testimony revealed DeLuney’s systematic theft from her mother over several months before the alleged murder. Gregory had confided in friends that two large sums totaling up to $85,000 had gone missing from her home, with her daughter later admitting to investing the money in cryptocurrency. Forensic accountant Eric Huang detailed DeLuney’s financial transactions, showing $156,555 transferred to crypto platforms against only $88,173 in withdrawals. The former school teacher received $74,850 in cash deposits and $45,000 in bank transfers from Gregory across seven months when she lacked sufficient funds to support her spending.

On June 25, 2023, DeLuney made eight cash deposits totaling $29,800 at smart ATMs, with $20,000 deposited in four transactions within minutes. The pattern raised red flags about the source of the funds and her trading activities. Gregory deposited $6,000 cash into DeLuney’s account on January 23 and withdrew $9,000 from her retirement fund after receiving the fabricated profit email. Instead of crypto investments, DeLuney used the money for credit card debt, Lotto tickets, and utility payments, with only $1,200 actually invested in cryptocurrency.

Family friend Cheryl Thomson testified that Gregory was upset about the unauthorized investments, recalling DeLuney’s reassurance: “It’s all safe mum, don’t worry.” Another friend, Elizabeth Askin, estimated the amount DeLuney had taken for crypto investments at approximately $75,000-$76,000. The case emerges as New Zealand implements sweeping financial crime reforms, including a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency ATMs and stricter cash transfer limits. The measures target growing criminal exploitation of digital finance tools, with police identifying crypto ATMs as primary channels for drug money laundering.

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced the measures as part of an overhaul to the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism regime. The nationwide crypto ATM ban targets the 157 machines that police identified as facilitating untraceable transactions for drug money laundering. A new $5,000 cap on international cash transfers aims to close another popular loophole exploited by criminal groups moving money offshore. The Financial Markets Authority has also issued multiple warnings about crypto scams targeting social media users. In December 2024, the watchdog flagged over 40 suspicious trading platforms operating through YouTube channels and messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Scammers follow calculated strategies, initially requesting small deposits to build trust before presenting fake profit statements to encourage larger investments. When victims attempt withdrawals, they face demands for additional fees with no money ever returned. Notably, the DeLuney incident follows similar incidents across the Asia-Pacific region. South Korean police investigated a suspected crypto-linked murder at a Jeju hotel in February 2025, where four Chinese nationals allegedly stabbed a man to death during a crypto exchange transaction, stealing $59,318 in cash. The global pattern of crypto-related violence and financial crimes has prompted coordinated regulatory responses, with multiple countries implementing stricter oversight of crypto ATMs and digital asset transactions to prevent criminal exploitation of the booming ecosystem.