Of Interest

Hamilton Confidential is a podcast about Worldclear Ltd, based on leaked documents from the New Zealand financial services provider.

Obtained by Interest.co.nz and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Lithuania's 15min.lt, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and Sweden's Expressen, the leak shows Worldclear processing money transfers for a colorful global clientele over a five year period.

With a staff of no more than a dozen people, one internal document claims Worldclear had "grown to process about $500 million in payment values per year."

Worldclear was found by Department of Internal Affairs supervisors to have failed to comply with several anti-money laundering requirements. And two minority Worldclear shareholders had convictions for financial crimes overseas, with one having an Interpol red notice out in his name for an unserved jail sentence in Panama for money laundering.

There is no evidence that Worldclear or its staff knowingly facilitated financial crimes. David Hillary, Worldclear's founder and managing director, denied any wrongdoing by himself or the firm, saying neither had ever; “knowingly or recklessly facilitated criminal offending, acted for the purpose of assisting any person to commit an offence, or designed or operated services for the purpose of concealing the source, destination, or beneficial connection of illicit funds.”

Here are the first four episodes in the series.

Episode 1, What was Worldclear and what did it do?

An overview of what Worldclear was, how it operated, who its customers and owners were, and why the story matters for New Zealand.

Episode 2, Richard Whitham; from Hamilton to Changi prison.

Featuring an interview with Richard Whitham, who worked for Worldclear as a banking relationships establishment project officer, and ended up spending more than two years in Changi prison. Whitham was the key source of the leak.

Episode 3; International customers; Michael Wilson, Guenther Klar & Odebrecht Overseas Ltd.

Featuring a customer wanted by the FBI who chartered a private jet and fled Canada for Vietnam, along with his wife, mother, and three dogs. A British citizen who was later convicted in Denmark of defrauding Danish tax authorities. And a Bahamas company whose Brazilian parent company had pleaded guilty in the US to involvement in a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal.

Episode 4; The Belarus & Lithuanian connection.

A discussion with Belarusian and Lithuanian journalists who worked on the investigation, looking at why the Worldclear leak is of interest in their countries, and what it's like to be a Belarusian investigative journalist working from exile.

Podcast hosts Gareth Vaughan and Emanuel Stoakes, producer Erica Wood.

Separate text stories published as part of the investigation can be found here.

Interest.co.nz is grateful for funding support from the Brian Gaynor Business Journalism Initiative and the readers who Support us, in helping bring this project to fruition.

Audio soundtrack opening is licensed from Shutterstock, Track 1219389 Monetization ID TFGEPGEI0LHEIJAI

Hamilton Confidential is a podcast about Worldclear Ltd, based on leaked documents from the New Zealand financial services provider.

Obtained by Interest.co.nz and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Lithuania's 15min.lt, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and Sweden's Expressen, the leak shows Worldclear processing money transfers for a colorful global clientele over a five year period.

With a staff of no more than a dozen people, one internal document claims Worldclear had "grown to process about $500 million in payment values per year."

Worldclear was found by Department of Internal Affairs supervisors to have failed to comply with several anti-money laundering requirements. And two minority Worldclear shareholders had convictions for financial crimes overseas, with one having an Interpol red notice out in his name for an unserved jail sentence in Panama for money laundering.

There is no evidence that Worldclear or its staff knowingly facilitated financial crimes. David Hillary, Worldclear's founder and managing director, denied any wrongdoing by himself or the firm, saying neither had ever; “knowingly or recklessly facilitated criminal offending, acted for the purpose of assisting any person to commit an offence, or designed or operated services for the purpose of concealing the source, destination, or beneficial connection of illicit funds.”

Here are the first four episodes in the series.

Episode 1, What was Worldclear and what did it do?

An overview of what Worldclear was, how it operated, who its customers and owners were, and why the story matters for New Zealand.

Episode 2, Richard Whitham; from Hamilton to Changi prison.

Featuring an interview with Richard Whitham, who worked for Worldclear as a banking relationships establishment project officer, and ended up spending more than two years in Changi prison. Whitham was the key source of the leak.

Episode 3; International customers; Michael Wilson, Guenther Klar & Odebrecht Overseas Ltd.

Featuring a customer wanted by the FBI who chartered a private jet and fled Canada for Vietnam, along with his wife, mother, and three dogs. A British citizen who was later convicted in Denmark of defrauding Danish tax authorities. And a Bahamas company whose Brazilian parent company had pleaded guilty in the US to involvement in a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal.

Episode 4; The Belarus & Lithuanian connection.

A discussion with Belarusian and Lithuanian journalists who worked on the investigation, looking at why the Worldclear leak is of interest in their countries, and what it's like to be a Belarusian investigative journalist working from exile.

Podcast hosts Gareth Vaughan and Emanuel Stoakes, producer Erica Wood.

Separate text stories published as part of the investigation can be found here.

Interest.co.nz is grateful for funding support from the Brian Gaynor Business Journalism Initiative and the readers who Support us, in helping bring this project to fruition.

Audio soundtrack opening is licensed from Shutterstock, Track 1219389 Monetization ID TFGEPGEI0LHEIJAI

Hamilton Confidential is a podcast about Worldclear Ltd, based on leaked documents from the New Zealand financial services provider.

Obtained by Interest.co.nz and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Lithuania's 15min.lt, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and Sweden's Expressen, the leak shows Worldclear processing money transfers for a colorful global clientele over a five year period.

With a staff of no more than a dozen people, one internal document claims Worldclear had "grown to process about $500 million in payment values per year."

Worldclear was found by Department of Internal Affairs supervisors to have failed to comply with several anti-money laundering requirements. And two minority Worldclear shareholders had convictions for financial crimes overseas, with one having an Interpol red notice out in his name for an unserved jail sentence in Panama for money laundering.

There is no evidence that Worldclear or its staff knowingly facilitated financial crimes. David Hillary, Worldclear's founder and managing director, denied any wrongdoing by himself or the firm, saying neither had ever; “knowingly or recklessly facilitated criminal offending, acted for the purpose of assisting any person to commit an offence, or designed or operated services for the purpose of concealing the source, destination, or beneficial connection of illicit funds.”

Here are the first four episodes in the series.

Episode 1, What was Worldclear and what did it do?

An overview of what Worldclear was, how it operated, who its customers and owners were, and why the story matters for New Zealand.

Episode 2, Richard Whitham; from Hamilton to Changi prison.

Featuring an interview with Richard Whitham, who worked for Worldclear as a banking relationships establishment project officer, and ended up spending more than two years in Changi prison. Whitham was the key source of the leak.

Episode 3; International customers; Michael Wilson, Guenther Klar & Odebrecht Overseas Ltd.

Featuring a customer wanted by the FBI who chartered a private jet and fled Canada for Vietnam, along with his wife, mother, and three dogs. A British citizen who was later convicted in Denmark of defrauding Danish tax authorities. And a Bahamas company whose Brazilian parent company had pleaded guilty in the US to involvement in a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal.

Episode 4; The Belarus & Lithuanian connection.

A discussion with Belarusian and Lithuanian journalists who worked on the investigation, looking at why the Worldclear leak is of interest in their countries, and what it's like to be a Belarusian investigative journalist working from exile.

Podcast hosts Gareth Vaughan and Emanuel Stoakes, producer Erica Wood.

Separate text stories published as part of the investigation can be found here.

Interest.co.nz is grateful for funding support from the Brian Gaynor Business Journalism Initiative and the readers who Support us, in helping bring this project to fruition.

Audio soundtrack opening is licensed from Shutterstock, Track 1219389 Monetization ID TFGEPGEI0LHEIJAI

Hamilton Confidential is a podcast about Worldclear Ltd, based on leaked documents from the New Zealand financial services provider.

Obtained by Interest.co.nz and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Lithuania's 15min.lt, the Belarusian Investigative Center, and Sweden's Expressen, the leak shows Worldclear processing money transfers for a colorful global clientele over a five year period.

With a staff of no more than a dozen people, one internal document claims Worldclear had "grown to process about $500 million in payment values per year."

Worldclear was found by Department of Internal Affairs supervisors to have failed to comply with several anti-money laundering requirements. And two minority Worldclear shareholders had convictions for financial crimes overseas, with one having an Interpol red notice out in his name for an unserved jail sentence in Panama for money laundering.

There is no evidence that Worldclear or its staff knowingly facilitated financial crimes. David Hillary, Worldclear's founder and managing director, denied any wrongdoing by himself or the firm, saying neither had ever; “knowingly or recklessly facilitated criminal offending, acted for the purpose of assisting any person to commit an offence, or designed or operated services for the purpose of concealing the source, destination, or beneficial connection of illicit funds.”

Here are the first four episodes in the series.

Episode 1, What was Worldclear and what did it do?

An overview of what Worldclear was, how it operated, who its customers and owners were, and why the story matters for New Zealand.

Episode 2, Richard Whitham; from Hamilton to Changi prison.

Featuring an interview with Richard Whitham, who worked for Worldclear as a banking relationships establishment project officer, and ended up spending more than two years in Changi prison. Whitham was the key source of the leak.

Episode 3; International customers; Michael Wilson, Guenther Klar & Odebrecht Overseas Ltd.

Featuring a customer wanted by the FBI who chartered a private jet and fled Canada for Vietnam, along with his wife, mother, and three dogs. A British citizen who was later convicted in Denmark of defrauding Danish tax authorities. And a Bahamas company whose Brazilian parent company had pleaded guilty in the US to involvement in a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal.

Episode 4; The Belarus & Lithuanian connection.

A discussion with Belarusian and Lithuanian journalists who worked on the investigation, looking at why the Worldclear leak is of interest in their countries, and what it's like to be a Belarusian investigative journalist working from exile.

Podcast hosts Gareth Vaughan and Emanuel Stoakes, producer Erica Wood.

Separate text stories published as part of the investigation can be found here.

Interest.co.nz is grateful for funding support from the Brian Gaynor Business Journalism Initiative and the readers who Support us, in helping bring this project to fruition.

Audio soundtrack opening is licensed from Shutterstock, Track 1219389 Monetization ID TFGEPGEI0LHEIJAI

Chinese officials are watching the 2026 election for a signal on whether New Zealand’s more United States-aligned security posture will become a permanent fixture.

If they assess that it is, the trade relationship might be at risk. That’s the opinion of David Mahon, a Kiwi business consultant based in Beijing.

“New Zealand–China relations are already at their worst stage since diplomatic recognition,” he told the Of Interest podcast.

“At the moment, there's not some sword hanging over us, partly because China is so busy dealing with a massive geopolitical mess, as all great powers and smaller and medium sized powers are.”

But Mahon sees two risks in the future: China could retaliate by blocking the import of some non-essential luxury goods, or it could simply become “indifferent” towards its relationship with New Zealand.

“New Zealand sells a lot of things to China. None of them are irreplaceable. In the end, it's just milk. In the end, it's just fruit or honey. That's something that we need to acknowledge.”

“If you look at our free trade agreement, the profit margin, the rationale for many of our companies trading with China is only based on the fact we pay no tax. If we lost that free trade agreement. We would lose much of our business with China”.

Mahon doesn’t think the Free Trade Agreement is currently at risk but there are signs Kiwi businesses in China are nervous about the deteriorating relationship.

An article written by China trade consultant Anna-May Isbey in a report published by the NZ Business Roundtable in China warned there could be direct consequences for geopolitical policies.

“The language used by governments when navigating geopolitical tensions can have real commercial consequences. Exporters consistently express the view that New Zealand’s longstanding, pragmatic, and independent approach to international engagement should continue,” she wrote.

This perspective contrasts against security analysts in Wellington and elsewhere who are increasingly concerned about China as a security risk, and want New Zealand to bolster its defence capabilities and diversify its export markets.

Government agencies have linked China to both foreign interference and cyber espionage in New Zealand, such as hacking the Parliamentary Service network in 2021.

But a political pivot towards the United States, which began while Jacinda Ardern was Prime Minister, has been complicated by the country’s plunging popularity in New Zealand.

The United States is now seen by Kiwis as more of a threat than China, according to an annual survey commissioned by the Asia NZ Foundation.

Mahon believes New Zealand should “learn to do less” and avoid taking sides in geopolitical competition which doesn’t directly affect it.

“Stop seeking the approval of these big countries that impress you so much, including Beijing … If we do less, and our need for the approval of other nations is less, then I think the navigation is going to be a lot simpler,” he said.

Audio soundtrack opening is licensed from Shutterstock, Track 1219389 Monetization ID TFGEPGEI0LHEIJAI