A Kiwi claims he had been robbed and drugged in Ukraine – but a unique Zealand trade envoy stumbled on their rescue, buying back their passports.

Marko Westerink, 48, was at the Ukrainian money of Kiev, in search of a gf because he claims: „Russian women can be quite breathtaking. I do not understand if Kiwi girls are a bit of good. „

But rather of finding love, he destroyed their bumbag containing cash, charge cards and both his brand brand New Zealand and Dutch passports, after getting out of bed in a metro place in a „zombie-like“ state.

He believes his orange juice ended up being spiked, and even though he had been incapacitated, thieves withdrew $18,000 from their banking account.

After neighborhood authorities did not assist, Westerink claims he had been stranded, penniless and sleeping in a park, until brand New Zealand’s honorary consul Mark Wright stumbled on their rescue.

Honorary consul aren’t expert diplomats, and frequently combine their role with commercial tasks. The nearest Kiwi embassy to Ukraine is with in Poland.

2 days after he had been robbed, Westerink received a contact, in Cyrillic script, with an image of his passports, it had been entitled: „Passport discovered“. It proceeded to express „Hello, we discovered your passport. A meeting can be arranged by us. “ He thinks they got his contact information from company cards he’d been holding.

„Mark Wright said he had been to manage the specific situation, and I also left it inside the arms. He organised the return associated with the passport using the ‚finder‘ who desired re re payment in exchange.

“ At the period of picking right on up the passports, Mark Wright’s associate stated that the ‚finder‘ had provided him a lot more of my stolen products but he would not have any longer cash to fund them. It cost 1000 hryvnia that is ukrainian $55) to obtain the passports straight back. Without him I would still be in Ukraine without any cash. „

?Westerink’s inquisitive tale began at 9.30pm on 2nd, outside the city’s Dream Palace Hostel september. He had been approached by a guy – whom advertised to be A french restaurateur – seeking instructions towards the town.

Westerink made a decision to walk with him to exhibit him the way in which. Along the way, he states they helped place away a motor vehicle engine fire, therefore the mystical guy convinced him to generally share a dinner of borscht.

The man is believed by him spiked their juice while Westerink ended up being sidetracked searching the net on their phone. „I was simply here shopping for girls on my phone, I happened to be offshore thinking about girls, maybe perhaps perhaps not men, thus I was not having to pay notice that is much him.

„we noticed the orange was a little sweeter than usual. We left the restaurant and that is the thing that is last keep in mind. „

The North Canterbury guy arrived too in a metro section, together with possessions lacking. In the wallet was a complete stranger’s charge card.

„I happened to be experiencing extremely dazed and disorientated, “ he stated. „I happened to be walking such as for instance a zombie. I recall almost nothing. „

As he ended up being gone, the hostel rented out their room and then he had no chance to cover another. „we slept within the park for a few evenings, “ he stated. „I got a mate to deliver me personally cash, but without having a passport i possibly couldn’t have it out from the Western Union. „

Police kept him waiting around for three hours at a station, after which delivered him to your embassy that is what is lovestruck australian whom directed him to Wright.

He had been additionally desperately looking to get your hands on BNZ to cancel their missing cards. On their go back to New Zealand, he discovered $16,500 of paying for his cards – all regarding the after the robbery night. Simply over $9, 000 ended up being invested in Kiev supermarkets and $2156 withdrawn from ATMs.

BNZ have told him they don’t reimburse the amount of money.

„I’m able to verify BNZ is using the services of Mr Westerink, and there is a continuous investigation about the charge card deals in Kiev, “ a spokeswoman stated.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs don’t respond to questions about how precisely Mr Wright obtained the passport.

A spokesman said: „The New Zealand Embassy in Warsaw, which is accredited to the Ukraine, provided consular assistance to Mr Westerink in a written statement.

„This included advice and the assistance of the Honorary Consul within the Ukraine. For privacy reasons, our company is struggling to offer detailed all about Mr Westerink’s instance or even the help supplied. Most of the time, the supply of consular support includes informing folks of the choices available so they could make their very own choices on next actions. „

MFAT’s travel advice for the town states fraudulence is typical in Ukraine and suggest New Zealanders take additional care whenever making use of charge cards and ATMs.

Wright don’t react to a request remark.

Neither did the person whom advertised he had discovered Westerink’s passports.