Northland man who breached Radiocommunications Act faces fine of up to $30K-hydxradio.com

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Northland man who breached Radiocommunications Act faces fine of up to $30K Aug 25, 2022

Authorities trying to curb the flow of illegally obtained two-way radio devices have charged a Northland man with importing them without a licence.

The man, who has interim name suppression, recently appeared in Whangārei District Court, pleading guilty to breaching the Radio Communications Act 1989 by importing the devices without a licence.

Scheduled for sentence later this year, he faces a fine of up to $30,000.

The charge is related to a consignment of 50 dual band radios and 2 long range radios, which was addressed to the man's home and intercepted by Customs at Auckland airport on December 23 last year.

A summary of facts released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) unit, said the illegal supply of these two-way radios had become a serious problem for police in the Northland region.

The RSM is the authority that allocates rights for the use of the radio spectrum, enforces compliance with licensing requirements, and administers the Radio Communications Act 1989 and the Radiocommunications Regulations 2001.

Records were not available to determine how many of the radios he sold through Facebook.

On January 21 last year, RSM saw a photo he posted on his North Comms page showing 47 of the devices for sale. It indicated he had likely sold a significant volume, RSM said.

At that stage, RSM was unable to link the profile to the man.By December 7 last year, RSM became aware he had resumed listing two-way radios on Trade Me.

He was issued an infringement notice and told to take the corrective actions stipulated by the Act but he failed to do either.

Interim suppression was imposed on the basis that publicity could cause the man extreme hardship, including by affecting his current job search.