A person’s chances of winning a major lottery are approximately one in 14 million.
But mathematician Stefan Mandel defied the odds to win the jackpot 14 times during his hey-day, and he did so without breaking a single law, the Lottery Critic reported.
The Romanian-born Australian citizen used his wits and affinity for numbers to create a near-perfect formula to crack the system.
While working as an economist in Romania, Mr Mandel tested his creation and hoped for a second prize win by using the five numbers his formula provided while simply guessing the sixth digit.
He ended up winning the major prize and was able to leave Romania and settle in Australia with his young family.
Shortly after arriving Down Under, Mr Mandel set to work fine-tuning his formula to the Australian game.
Due to the immensity of possible combinations in the Australian lottery, Mr Mandel began searching for investors, with the intention of scooping up as many tickets for each major draw as possible.
With five of six numbers calculated via his system, the amount of combinations became finite and Mr Mandel began focusing on major prizes offering more money than possible combinations.
With these he hoped to purchase every ticket option available, giving him even more chances of winning the jackpot.
After 12 wins, Australian authorities began cottoning on to his grand scheme.
Despite the legality of his activities, it was deemed not in the spirit of the game and a series of laws were introduced to block him.
It was made illegal for one man to purchase every ticket of the lottery.
Another law was enacted which made it illegal for groups of individuals to purchase all the tickets in a lottery draw, but again, Mr Mandel found a workaround by creating a lottery firm.
Just as he overcame each hurdle, the Australian government would place another in front of him.
HOW A MAN BEAT THE SYSTEM
Stefan Mandel created a near-perfect formula to outsmart the lottery system.
He discovered a math formula with a 100 percent chance of successfully ascertaining five out of the six necessary numbers to hit the jackpot.
From this, he raised funds through investors, to purchase enough tickets to invest in every possible combination of numbers.
Through refining his formula depending on the lottery systems of Australia and the United States, Mr Mandel won in excess of $30million.
He won one lottery in Romania, 12 in Australia, and the major jackpot in Virginia, USA.
Mr Mandel’s formula was eventually outlawed in both countries, however he was never indicted for any wrongdoing.
Before long, Mr Mandel grew tired of the back and forth, and again set his sights on a greater market.
When scouting other options, he learned the United States had not yet imposed the restrictions he’d experienced in Australia.
He immediately got to work on cracking the American system, with a particular focus on the Virginia lottery.
At the time, there were 7.1 million possible number combinations in the pool and tickets were priced at only $1 each.
Mr Mandel convinced 2,500 Australian investors to pool $2,500 each.
Two years later, in 1992, the jackpot reached $27 million, and Mr Mandel and his team purchased every single ticket.
‘I knew that I would win one first prize, six second prizes, 132 third prizes, and thousands of minor prizes,’ he told Planet Money.
His total profit was in excess of $30million.
It resulted in a four-year legal battle, which saw the syndicate investigated by the likes of the CIA and FBI, however suspicions went unfounded.
Despite this, laws were still changed to outlaw Mr Mandel’s technique.
A young girl has allegedly been stabbed to death by her teenage sister in NSW‘s Lake Macquarie region.
Dozens of police remained at the scene in Thurston Street on Monday night
Emergency services rushed to a home in Thurston Street, Boolaroo near Newcastle about 3.45pm on Monday following reports of a stabbing.
Paramedics treated a 10-year-old girl at the scene for multiple stab wounds but she was unable to be revived.
Police arrested a 17-year-old girl at the home, and she was taken to Belmont Police Station and is currently assisting with inquiries.
No charges have been laid.
The girl’s death has rocked the close-knit neighbourhood.
‘It is just beyond words,’ a neighbour who knew the girl’s family told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘We are grieving’.
Another resident told the Newcastle Herald that no one expected anything so horrific to happen in their neighbourhood.
Others had no idea anything was wrong until multiple sirens were heard blaring down the usually quiet street.
There are no other reports of injuries, and a crime scene has been established as investigations continue, with most of the street cordoned off with police tape.
Thurston Street was expected to remain blocked off until well into the night.
Forensic officers have arrived at the home to examine and photograph the crime scene and collect potential evidence.
Photos from the scene show shocked locals gathering outside the crime scene.
A number of police vehicles remained parked in the street as detectives were seen coming and going from the home.
The latest incident follows a spate of fatal stabbings across NSW in recent weeks.
It’s been two weeks since five women and a shopping centre security guards lost their lives during a stabbing rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction.
Up to 3000 Pacific Island and Timor-Leste nationals will be able to register for Australia’s new Pacific Engagement Visa program from 3 June, the Australian government has announced.
It will use an online ballot to select participants, who can then apply for the visa to migrate to Australia as permanent residents.
Applicants must secure a formal ongoing job offer in Australia and meet health and character requirements before being granted a visa.
Countries participating in the first year of the programme include Federated States of Micronesia (50), Fiji (300), Nauru (100), Palau (50), Papua New Guinea (1350), Solomon Islands (150), Timor-Leste (300), Tonga (150), Tuvalu (100), Vanuatu (150), with discussions ongoing with other partners in the region.
“The Albanese government is delivering on our commitment to deepen our connections with the Pacific and Timor-Leste with the Pacific Engagement Visa,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said.
Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy said the programme “demonstrates the high value Australia places on its relationship with the Pacific and Timor-Leste”.
He said it would grow Pacific and Timor-Leste diasporas in Australia, “strengthening linkages between our people and encouraging greater cultural, business, economic and educational exchange with Pacific countries”.
Conroy added the program had “transformative potential”, making Australia’s world-class education and training system more accessible for new residents under the Pacific Engagement Visa.
“Through these impacts, and by boosting remittance flows to Pacific countries, the program will also support economic development and welfare in the Pacific.”
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles said the new visa programme was an opportunity to address the under-representation of Pacific Island and Timorese nationals in Australia’s permanent migration programme.
Less than one percent of permanent migrants currently come from the region.
“The programme is in keeping with the Government’s Migration Strategy which identifies deepening Australia’s people-to-people links with the Indo-Pacific as one of eight key actions to reform the migration system,” he said.
The coalition Government would be out and a new Labour-led Government could be in if an election were to be held today, a new 1News Verian poll suggests.
The poll’s numbers see New Zealand First plummeting to 4.2% in the party vote, a result that would oust it from Parliament and, with it, the Government’s numbers to govern.
The poll surveyed 1000 eligible voters between April 20 and April 24.
According to the poll, if an election were held today National would still be the biggest party in Parliament with 36% of the party vote, down 2% on the last 1News Verian Poll.
Poll: Labour could return to power if election held today
The latest 1News Verian poll is disastrous for New Zealand First, which would be out of Parliament based on the numbers.
Labour is back in the 30s – just – with 30% of the party vote, up 2%. The Green Party is also up 2% to 14%, while ACT is down 1% to 7%. New Zealand First was down 1.8% and below the 5% threshold to return to Parliament.
Te Pāti Māori was steady on 4% of the party vote – noting that it holds all but one of the seven Māori electorates. Of those polled, 8% didn’t know which party they would vote for, or refused to answer.
Translated to seats in the House, those numbers meant National and ACT would have a total of 57 seats in the House – falling short of the magic number of seats to form a majority in the 121 seat Parliament – 61 seats.
Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori – should they negotiate a coalition deal – had a total of 64 seats and would have the numbers to form a government.
Party vote for the 1News Verian poll on April 29 (Source: 1News)
It would mean the Luxon-led National Government would be the first single-term National-led Government.
The result is not unprecedented for an incumbent Government although it has historically not happened so early in its tenure. It is similar to poll results for the Key and Clark governments in their third terms.
The third John Key-led Government was elected in October 2014 and by the July 2015 poll their coalition would have been voted out. The third Helen Clark Government was elected in October 2005 and by May 2006 their coalition would have been voted out, based on poll results from that time.
Christopher Luxon has also fallen further in the preferred prime minister stakes, at 23%, down 2%.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins does not appear to be capitalising on it however, his own result only lifting 1% to 16%.
In the first poll since she replaced James Shaw as Greens co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick is up 2% as the preferred prime minister at 6%.
The other coalition leaders – ACT’s David Seymour and New Zealand First’s Winston Peters – are the preferred prime minister for 5% (up 1%) and 4% (down 2%), respectively.
In the lead up to the poll, Peters gave a state of the nation speech in which he compared co-governance to Nazi Germany, and another at the UN criticising its security council for their use of veto powers and its failure to act decisively in Gaza.
Preferred Prime Minister for the 1News Verian poll on April 29 (Source: 1News)
Public submissions for the Government’s controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill also closed while debate raged.
On April 14, Luxon travelled to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines on an official visit aimed at strengthening business ties.
Discussion of cuts to the public service has also proliferated in recent weeks, as departments look to cut costs at the behest of the Government.
Hipkins: Poll ‘should be a real wake up call’ for Govt
Labour leader Hipkins said the poll “should be a real wake up call” for the coalition Government that it was taking New Zealand in the wrong direction.
Hipkins said among the public there was a “growing degree of disillusionment with the new Government, relatively early in its new term” and “a real hunger for some hope for the future”.
“They do see it as a coalition of chaos. They are concerned about decisions like rolling back our smokefree laws, cutting funding for disabled people [and] the number of [public sector] jobs that are being cut.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins. (Source: 1News)
He accepted New Zealanders voted for change at the election and that that was also a message for Labour.
“We know that we need to change if we’re going to win back government at the next election.”
He said that was “not an overnight exercise” and the party was doing it by listening to people’s concerns and hopes. But a shift in support away from all three coalition parties was “encouraging”.
He said he was more focused on Labour’s position for the next election than his preferred prime minister results, which he claimed tended to skew away from leaders of the opposition due to their highly critical role.
Luxon: Labour left an ‘unholy mess’ Govt needs to deal with
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said polls “will go up and down”.
Seats in the House for the 1News Verian poll on April 29 (Source: 1News)
“We’re not that fixated on them.”
He said ultimately the public would judge the government’s performance at the next election.
“We’re cleaning up a hell of a mess and I think we’re doing a good job of working through it at a great pace.
“I appreciate it’s a challenging time for New Zealand but what New Zealanders want is a government that’s going to get on and deliver for them.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. (Source: 1News)
After sacking two ministers from a portfolio each last week, Luxon said he would “make interventions” when he needed to “make sure I had good senior Cabinet ministers dealing with those issues”.
He said the coalition was working “incredibly well” and was united on its agenda.
Regarding Hipkins’ comment the Government needed to heed the poll as a “wake up call”, Luxon said: “No disrespect but Chris Hipkins had six years in government. He left an unholy mess for our government to pick up and I don’t take lessons from Chris Hipkins on anything.”
New Zealand First and Winston Peters were invited to comment on the poll but declined.
Party vote
National – 36% (down 2%)
Labour – 30% (up 2%)
Green – 14% (up 2%)
ACT – 7% (down 1%)
New Zealand First – 4.2% (down 1.8%)
Te Pāti Māori – 3.7% (steady)
The Opportunities Party (TOP) – 1.2% (down 0.7%)
Seats in the House
(Calculation assumes Te Pāti Māori retains its electorates.)
Between April 20 and April 24 2024, 1000 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (500) and online, using online panels (500). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. Party support percentages have been rounded up or down to whole numbers, except those less than 4.5%, which are reported to one decimal place. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region, ethnic identification and education level. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel. Undecided voters, non-voters and those who refused to answer are excluded from the data on party support. The results are a snapshot in time of party support, and not a prediction.
The man died at Hawke’s Bay Hospital after 15 days on ventilation. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
Te Whatu Ora has been ordered to apologise and better train its staff after a man died from a severe brain injury due to incorrect intubation at Hawke’s Bay Hospital.
The hospital failed to provide an appropriate standard of service, Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Dr Vanessa Caldwell found in her report released on Monday.
The man was in hospital after suffering two wounds to his back. Staff decided to run CT scans to check for internal injuries.
Because he was agitated, he was anaesthetised so emergency department staff could insert a breathing tube into his trachea – but it was incorrectly placed in his oesophagus instead.
The error was not picked up for 15 minutes, and during that time the man sustained a fatal brain injury.
After he was properly intubated, the man was placed in the intensive care unit for 15 days until his ventilation was removed and he died.
Several factors contributed to the man’s death, including included a lack of standardised equipment, better equipment not being made available, and staff members believing that certain equipment was not functioning properly, Caldwell said.
Staff could see there was an issue with the man’s blood oxygen level, but assumed the equipment they were using – a capnograph – was not working properly, because it had been broken in the past.
That was despite a trauma nurse testing the machine and demonstrating that it appeared to be working.
That information was not handed over, or not recognised by the senior staff, the report said.
Staff called for another capnograph to be brought in from another department, unaware that another piece of equipment they could have used was on the airway trolley they were using.
“I am critical that Te Whatu Ora did not ensure that there was suitable equipment for difficult airway management available in the ED [emergency department], and that there was a lack of standardised equipment across the hospital,” Caldwell said.
“I am also critical that the staff were not made aware of the equipment that was available, and that the staff were not reassured that the equipment was functional and being maintained adequately.”
Staff also did not follow the standard practice in emergency airway management, which was to remove a tube if there is any doubt intubation has been carried out properly, she said.
Te Whatu Ora should provide a written apology to the man’s whānau and regularly train emergency department and intensive care staff on “the standard practice in emergency airway management”, Caldwell wrote.
Te Whatu Ora accepted the recommendations.
It said since the man’s death, Te Whatu Ora Te Matau a Maui (Hawke’s Bay) had made several changes, including:
Purchasing new equipment
Forming an airway committee including anaesthetics, intensive care, emergency, and ear, nose and throat departments
Reviewing and standardising airway equipment between ED, ICU and the operating theatre
Establishing an equipment testing and checking regime
Developing difficult intubation and airways checklists
A Tongan man has been named as the senior baggage handler at Auckland Airport who had arranged for his criminal colleagues to import methamphetamine into Aotearoa during the Covid-19 lockdown.
A New Zealand Herald report this week has identified Sese Vimahi as the man who arranged to import 20kg of methamphetamine in a suitcase, with an estimated street value of $8 million.
“Syndicates members called Sese Vimahi the “Tongan Pablo” – in reference to infamous Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar for his role in smuggling drugs into his country”, the Herald said.
Describing his role in the drug importation attempt, the Herald said: “A US supplier would pack meth inside luggage and have it in the bulk hold of the plane from Los Angeles. At this end, Vimahi would arrange for Air New Zealand bag handlers to find the bag and remove it without going through security.
“The rip on rip off tactics is common around the world and relies on organised crime syndicates having trusted in working at the boarder.
“Through this corrupt network, Vimahi was still able to facilitate the importation of methamphetamine on flights from Los Angeles to Auckland despite being on bail. He was arrested, for the second time, in November 2021 following a joint investigation between the National Organised Crime Group and Customs”.
The revelation comes after Stuff reported earlier this year that a baggage handler who was a key figure in trying to import methamphetamine into Aotearoa during the Covid-19 lockdown, has been jailed for 14 years.
The 47-year-old, who Stuff cannot name at the time, was arrested alongside Tongan musician Romney Fuki Fukofuka, also known as Konecs.
At trial, the evidence showed he was a key organiser, texting instructions to Fukofuka to put the drug-ladened suitcase on the baggage carousel.
He had also arranged for his criminal colleagues, also formerly baggage handlers, to get the suitcase off the baggage carousel and deliver it to him outside the airport where he was waiting. Some were promised $20,000 for a successful drop-off.
The other co-accused were George Aloha Taukolo, Daniel Ah Hong and Mark Castillo all previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to import methamphetamine and were each sentenced to 12 months of home detention at Manukau District Court.
Judge Richard McIlraith said the trio showed “genuine remorse” for the parts they played in the attempted importation.
An Auckland man deported from Australia as a 501 after serving prison time as a teenager for a murder-for-hire plot involving a victim with cerebral palsy is again wanted by police.
At one point during the hour-long April 2023 pursuit, Sifa Tevita, now 37, had 20 police vehicles following him.
He drove in the wrong direction down the Waikato Expressway when it was busy with school holiday traffic, nearly hit an ambulance, swerved at members of the public and kept going even after two flat tyres fell off the Porsche.
When police finally caught Tevita, he “refused to provide an explanation, choosing instead to urinate in front of them”, according to court documents recently released to the Herald.
Tevita pleaded guilty to burglary, reckless driving and failure to stop for police and had been set for sentencing this week in Auckland District Court, where he faced a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
He was also scheduled to be sentenced for breaching the Returning Offenders Act, which allows Corrections to supervise the reintegration of those returning to NZ after criminal convictions overseas – placing on them parole-like restrictions.
Judge June Jelas instead ordered a warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear for the hearing, with defence lawyer Harvena Cherrington indicating to the judge she had not been able to reach her client.
He remains at-large.
‘Risk to the public’
According to court documents, the crime spree began in affluent Auckland suburb Parnell about 2am on April 16 last year when Tevita and co-defendant Ronald Neilson cased out a gated residence where the 2021 model Porsche 911 C4S and a $50,000 Land Rover Discovery were parked.
They returned at 4am and removed the keys for both vehicles from within the residence.
“The defendant Neilson has driven the Land Rover directly at the security gate, smashing it from its hinges before driving from the property,” states the agreed summary of facts for Tevita’s case.
“The defendant Tevita has followed in the Porsche.”
Neilson has also pleaded guilty but remains at-large after failing to show up for a sentencing last month.
Police spotted Tevita heading towards Hamilton that same day after he attempted to purchase fuel for the sports car at a Waihi petrol station about 7.30am.
He realised police were onto him when they attempted to spike the Porsche’s tyres. When that attempt to stop him didn’t work, police pulled directly behind him with red and blue lights flashing. Tevita sped away.
“The defendant has entered the Waikato Expressway the wrong way before driving south in the northbound lane,” court documents state.
“He proceeded to travel 7km down the wrong side of the Expressway during which time he swerved toward police units travelling northbound and narrowly avoided colliding with an ambulance.”
He then exited the motorway onto Te Rapa Road in Horotiu, driving at an estimated speed of 80km/h despite the two right tyres of the Porsche having completely deflated at that point.
“As the defendant drove south along Te Rapa Rd, he against swerved towards a police unit and regularly travelled on the incorrect side of the road, forcing members of the public to the side of the road,” the police narrative continued.
“At one stage the defendant accessed The Base shopping mall car park, forcing shoppers to take refuge inside the shops, such was the manner of driving.”
Auckland resdient Sifa Tevita is arrested in April 2023 after a police chase involving a stolen $249,000 Porsche that was driven on the wrong side of the Waikato Expressway. Photo / Ashlee Garrett
He then returned to Te Rapa Rd, continuing to drive on the wrong side in an effort to shake police, the summary of facts states.
He travelled an estimated 80km/h in a 50km/h zone while again swerving towards members of the public, police noted.
“At about this time the two deflated tyres fell off the vehicle, causing the defendant to drive on the rims,” authorities have noted, explaining that he continued to avoid arrest by swerving at police or driving around them on the grass verges before again entering the wrong side of the Waikato Expressway.
“Due to the defendant’s manner of driving and unpredictable behaviour police were required to stop both north and southbound lanes of traffic to reduce the risk to the public,” authorities said.
Tevita continued to drive another 12km, including “extended periods” where he remained on the grass verge, until encountering “a considerable police roadblock” at the Taupiri interchange.
Seeing the trap that lay ahead, Tevita reversed down the motorway then exited between a wire barrier and a roadside fence in an effort to get around the roadblock.
“The defendant managed to drive a further 500m before eventually sliding into a fence, becoming stuck and fleeing from police [on foot],” court documents state.
“When arrested in a nearby paddock the defendant refused to provide an explanation, choosing instead to urinate in front of them.”
‘Not even a panadol’
During a hearing in Hamilton District Court later the same week, Tevita was seen hobbling into the courtroom dock.
He was “not in a good physical state” as a result of the incident, his lawyer at the time, Roger Laybourn, told community magistrate Brenda Midson.
“He has a serious back problem and has advised me that he has not even been provided with a panadol and wants me to raise that [with you],” Tevita’s lawyer said.
“I would like it noted on the file that it does impact on my ability to get coherent instructions from him.
“If a person has a back injury you would think an X-ray would be the minimum until any rational medical decision can be made.”
The magistrate agreed to put a note on the file before remanding Tevita without plea.
The case was later transferred to Auckland District Court.
‘Cruel and merciless’
The Waikato Expressway chase wasn’t the first – or even, arguably, the most bizarre – crime that Tevita has been in the public eye for.
In 2005, at just age 18, he was handed a precedent-setting 18-year prison sentence in a Brisbane courtroom after pleading guilty to slashing the throat of a young man in a wheelchair and stabbing him three times in the back.
The judge stipulated he serve at least 80 per cent of the attempting to kill sentence before eligibility would set in for him to apply for parole.
Tevita was 17 years old at the time of the May 2004 attack, which he said he participated in because victim Michael Birch’s roommate – Benjamin Luke Janz, who also suffered from cerebral palsy – had promised him $500,000 to carry it out.
Birch was left for dead but survived the attack, according to court documents from Australia.
“Mr Birch heard someone running into his bedroom,” the Queensland Court of Appeal recounted while considering if Tevita’s sentence was manifestly excessive.
“A hand came across his face pulling his head back, and he felt his throat being cut. After that, the applicant came back and stabbed him.”
“Are you right to use this?” the victim’s roommate had asked Tevita a short time earlier after handing him a folding knife with a 10cm blade.
“Do it now,” he added.
Janz, who would later receive a 10-year sentence, was described as the more intelligent of the two co-defendants.
“It may be that because of his own disability Janz was unable to carry out the killing himself and so engaged the applicant to do it for him,” the Court of Appeal noted.
Because of his disability, the victim had been in a wheelchair his whole life and was unable to defend himself, the court also noted.
He called police but was unable to speak due to the neck wound. He then wheeled himself outside his flat – the bloody sight prompting neighbours to call for an ambulance.
“The result for Mr Birch has been tragic,” the Court of Appeal justices wrote.
“Despite his disability, he had previously been able to live an independent life. He was a disc jockey for … a broadcasting system that serves the Children’s Hospital. Remarkably, he was also learning to fly an aeroplane.
“Now he can do neither of these things. Because of injuries to his larynx, he is unable to speak above a whisper. He is at constant risk of choking and has to have his food cut up for him to eat.
“It is painful to cough; he is vulnerable to colds, flu and throat infections; and he suffers continuous back pain from the stabbing inflicted on him. He now requires a full-time carer and his mother has had to resume living with him to look after him.”
In determining if the sentence was manifestly excessive, the court noted that “there is obviously not much to be said in mitigation of the applicant’s terrible deed”, adding that it was “cruel and merciless and carried out for money”.
Youth was a factor to consider, but “it does not require much maturity to know not to commit such an awful offence, even though it is clear from the psychologist’s report that the applicant is lacking in ordinary intelligence and insight”, the Court of Appeal found. It dismissed the appeal.
Tevita and his co-defendant were also ordered in 2008 to pay $75,000 in compensation – the maximum allowable under Queensland law – to the victim, according to the Brisbane Times.
The court was told Tevita moved to Australia in 1999, around age 12.
He left school at age 17 and turned to theft to fuel his drug and alcohol addictions.
By the time of his Waikato arrest, he had been released on parole, deported to NZ and was living in Auckland suburb Wesley, where he worked as a scaffolder, according to the more recent arrest records.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
A fake tradie who fleeced customers off by more than $280k will be deported to Tonga after inflicting shoddy and incomplete work on vulnerable homeowners’ properties in Sydney and Wollongong.
Tevita Ungounga
Tevita Ungounga launched a charitable website where people who were interested can buy tickets, and the first prize is cash or a house built by him.
The unlicensed tradie did this online business marketing while spending time behind bars.
His sentence comes after he had faced 50 charges from fraud to illegal work, and was put behind bars for breaching his bail by doing more unlicensed and uninsured jobs.
Ungounga destroyed a man’s house and drained his life savings in one of the worst cases seen on A Current Affair has been exposed as a father who regularly attends church with his family.
Ungounga is well known to Fair Trading and New South Wales Police, but despite multiple public warnings and convictions, the 55-year-old from Moorebank has continued to work and left some homeowners in financial ruin.
One of his victims, Ian O’Connor from Illawong, gave Ungounga $235,000 to build a seawall and renovate his quaint home, Australia’s 9Now reported.
The 68-year-old was left with holes in his walls, unfinished rooms, and two years on still has no running water.
“He’s a pig, a disgusting pig,” Mr O’Connor said.
“He seemed quite nice, very friendly, but I guess you could say most conmen are.”
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi slammed the brakes on dangerous modifications – after a vehicle was found with its pedals replaced by wooden blocks.
The discovery was made during a Warrant of Fitness inspection.
“When you need to stop, these blocks won’t cut it. During a warrant of fitness inspectors check your brake system is working correctly — pedals need to reliably slow and stop the vehicle,” NZTA said on social media today.
“As you can see, this vehicle has had some modifications to the brakes that affect how they’re used, making the vehicle unsafe to drive. This is a fail.
“It’s important you keep your vehicle well maintained and as safe as it can be. During a WoF, inspectors check everything in your vehicle is working as it should.”
A vehicle covered in artificial grass. (Source: Waka Kotahi )
The van was taken to a VTNZ covered in the fake turf – with just the windshield, wheels, bumper, headlights, and side mirrors left bare.
“The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. A warrant of fitness inspection includes checking for corrosion and damage. Because of that, your vehicle’s body can’t be covered like this — so this is a fail,” NZTA said.
“It’s illegal to use a vehicle if it doesn’t meet WoF requirements.”
