A Christchurch man has raised concerns after discovering Cash Converters Linwood sold his stolen guitar amplifier not once – but twice.

Despite this, the store said it followed legal procedures.

Cameron Hoy, whose mother’s house in Dallington was burgled in April 2023, found out that his stolen Jansen Bassman 50 amp had been sold by the second-hand goods chain, despite being reported as stolen to the police.

Hoy, who was overseas at the time of the burglary, had left his possessions in storage at his mother’s home.

Among the items stolen were his car, several of his mother’s belongings, and a significant amount of his music equipment, including the vintage Jansen amp, which is highly sought after by guitarists.

The amp, known for its distinctive orange vinyl covering, was recognised when Hoy posted about the theft in Facebook groups dedicated to local musicians and Jansen enthusiasts.

“That amp is unique and easily recognisable,” Hoy said. “I knew if it turned up somewhere, someone in the music community would spot it. It’s not something you can just replace or overlook.”

 

 

 

In July this year, over a year after the initial theft, Hoy was contacted by a fellow musician who had purchased the amp from Cash Converters Linwood.

The buyer, who stumbled upon Hoy’s Facebook post while researching the amp, reached out to return the stolen item.

Hoy informed both Cash Converters and the police. The buyer was advised to return the amp to Cash Converters, who agreed to hold it until police could collect it as evidence.

“I thought that was the end of it,” Hoy said. “I was relieved, thinking the police would finally get a lead on the case.”

However, despite the report to the police and Cash Converters’ awareness of the amp’s status, Hoy was contacted again by another buyer who had unknowingly purchased the same stolen amp from Cash Converters Linwood’s website.

The second buyer also recognised the amp from Hoy’s posts and contacted him to ensure its rightful return.

“This was a real shock,” Hoy said. “Finding out that Cash Converters sold the amp again, knowing it was stolen, is incredibly frustrating. It’s like a bad joke that just keeps getting worse.

“I’m skeptical that Cash Converters will do the right thing, and I’m doubtful whether the police will take any action this time. It feels like a never-ending cycle. How can we trust the system if stolen goods are being resold by businesses that should be more vigilant?”

He said contacted both Cash Converters and the police once more to determine the next steps, and the current buyer agreed not to collect the amp until further instructions were provided.

Hoy hopes that the exposure of these events might lead to the identification of the offenders and the recovery of other stolen items, including irreplaceable family heirlooms taken from his mother’s house.

“At this point, I just want justice for my mum and to get back what we can,” Hoy said. “Some of her things that were taken can’t be replaced—they’re family heirlooms. It’s disheartening to see that the process to reclaim stolen goods is so flawed.”

Despite the frustrations, Hoy expressed gratitude for the honest and supportive community of musicians who have helped bring attention to his case.

“It is heartwarming to see the music community around the country willing to go out of their way to see stolen goods returned,” he said. “Without their help, who knows where that amp would be now?”

A Cash Converters spokesperson told chrislynchmedia.com it follows a strict policy for all items we purchase from the public for resale.

“We maintain an excellent and transparent relationship with police by proactively providing them with all our purchase records.

“It is our policy and legal obligation under the Second-Hand Dealers Act to hold items for ten working days before putting it up for sale.

“In this instance, we only received notification that there was a problem with this item after almost three weeks. However, we took immediate steps to successfully recover the item, and advised the claimant to lodge a police report. After 48 days we had received no instructions from the police and so the item was listed for sale again.

“Now that the matter has been re-raised with us, the item in question is back on hold with Cash Converters and we are waiting for instructions from the police Transparency for our customers is important to Cash Converters and we take our obligations to act responsibly seriously.”

Detective Sergeant Ben Rolton told chrislynchmedia.com “we aim to collect identified stolen property from second hand dealers where we can and return to owners as soon as possible.

“It’s unfortunate in this instance that this hasn’t occurred. The reported offence is currently awaiting member assignment within the Christchurch Police Tactical Crime Unit.

“It relates to a reported burglary from April 2023 which at the time of initial reporting had no viable lines of enquiry and was filed. The complainant provided police with further information in July 2024 that an item of property which had been taken in the burglary had been sold by a second-hand dealer in early July 2024.

“This item was returned to the second-hand dealer. We contacted the second-hand dealer and obtained the original seller’s details.

“This person has not been spoken to as the matter is currently awaiting assignment. The second-hand dealer held onto the item for the period required.  The amp was not collected by police within that period and regrettably the amp was listed and sold again by the second-hand dealer.”