Jewellery found on Romanian couple will be auctioned

Police have succeeded in an application to retain and auction off jewellery found in the possession of a Romanian couple who went on a crime spree through the North Island last year.

Ioan and Paulina Kvec were sentenced at Palmerston North District Court to 1 year and 4 months imprisonment in June last year for a number of theft and shoplifting offences.

They had entered the country in February and began travelling around the North Island using distraction tactics to steal from jewellers and banks. They were caught when a Police patrol car stopped them for speeding in Bulls and found them in possession of a significant amount of jewellery and cash.

Police were able to identify the owners of some of the jewellery and return it. However there were 33 items valued in excess of $17,550 that remained unclaimed, despite a number of media appeals, and the couple were unable to prove that they legitimately owned it. Police made an application under the Policing Act to retain the jewellery as unclaimed property and auction it off. That application has been granted.

The Kvec's have since been deported from New Zealand back to Romania.