Albert Victor Epere (56), president of the Dunedin Mangu Kaha chapter, was convicted by Judge Dominic Flatley of dishonestly obtaining and using the fraudulent documentation, following a trial by judge-alone yesterday.
The Dunedin District Court heard Epere was only a small part of the nationwide scam which gained momentum through word of mouth among the criminal fraternity.
The man at the centre of it was 67-year-old Petre Jozef Kalinowski, one of only two people on the West Coast approved to assess the capability of motorcyclists.
In March, he was jailed for 31 and a-half months for three years of escalating offending which featured him falsifying motorcycle-test documentation 285 times.
Kalinowski, who was hauled from prison to give evidence yesterday, was reluctant to go into detail about his crimes.
"This was a couple of years ago. I can hardly remember what I was doing last week to be honest," he said.
Court documents gave a more colourful account.
Kalinowski would fill in a fake scoresheet to make it look as though the rider had taken and passed the competency test, he would file the paperwork with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and send the customer the certification allowing them to get their motorcycle licence.
Once organised criminal groups got wind of the shortcut, he became inundated with business.
By 2020, Kalinowski had a contact in West Auckland, a Mongrel Mob middleman in Porirua, King Cobras in Christchurch and Hells Angels in Wellington.
He also dealt with the Head Hunters, Killer Beez, Rebels, Immortal Souls and Satans Slaves, police said.
On August 5, 2020, records stated he assessed Epere in Greymouth, which resulted in the defendant receiving his learner licence.
The problem was the registration plate of the bike Epere had supposedly been riding had been used in more than 80 other fake tests administered by Kalinowski.
It was traced back to the West Coast owner of a black Suzuki who told the court yesterday only he and his wife had used the bike since they bought it in January that year.
Judge Flatley said there were three possibilities: Epere had never gone to Greymouth; he had been there to take his test and Kalinowski had used a false licence number to cover for the fact Epere had been on an unsuitable motorbike; or, as the defence suggested, it was simply an administrative error by Kalinowski.
So did he remember Epere?
"Vaguely, possibly. I’ve seen a lot of people," he said.
The judge was scathing about the disgraced assessor.
"I did not find Mr Kalinowski believable at all ... He’s simply not a credible witness," he said.
"There’s every possibility in my mind Mr Epere was not in Greymouth. Either way, this document is fraudulent. There’s no question in my mind about that."
Kalinowski made $54,000 from his dealings, which police said was used to fund his "reckless spending" on travel, dining, motorcycle gear and luxuries.
As a result of what police dubbed "Operation Ketch", 160 people had their licences invalidated and several — like Epere — faced fraud charges over their involvement.
While Epere had dishonesty convictions on his record, counsel Brendan Stephenson stressed their historical nature.
He will be sentenced next month and Judge Flatley indicated community work was the likely outcome.
