An elderly man who claims to have lost nearly $220,000 to two Thai sex workers has told a court he always expected the women would pay him back.The Waikato complainant, who has interim name suppression, told a jury in the Hamilton…

A single-lot auction of 104 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) could fetch as much as $USD 30 million ($42 million) when they go under the gavel next month.

Sotheby's is offering the single lot of 104 "CryptoPunk" NFTs with an estimate of between $USD 20 million and $USD 30 million – making it the highest valued estimate for an NFT or digital art ever offered at auction.

The digital artwork is set to be auctioned live in New York on February 23, where it is expected records will be broken in the new asset class of NFTs.

READ MORE: Sydney plumbers find $44m drug stash while fixing toilet

Non-fungible tokens are units of data that can be bought and sold and prove ownership of a freely-shared digital property such as an image.

A common analogy to explain NFTs is to use Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa – anybody with internet access can download a picture of the Mona Lisa and hang it on their wall – but only the French Republic can boast the receipt of ownership of the famous painting.

It's a confusing – and new – concept, so if you need a refresher you can read our explainer here.

CryptoPunks were created and released in 2017 by studio Larva Labs, and have come to be known as some of the most iconic and valuable NFTs ever created.

READ MORE: Cold front to slam into south-eastern Australia

In June 2021 Sotheby's sold CryptoPunk #7523 (a single CryptoPunk) for a record-breaking $USD 11.8 million ($16.49 million).

This group of 104 CryptoPunks were first acquired in a single blockchain transaction by an anonymous collector known as "0x650d".

Sotheby's says the buyer behind 0x650d will continue with this convention when the 104 Punks are sold together as a single lot at Sotheby's.

READ MORE: How Tasmanian tiger's closest relative could help resurrect species

Michael Bouhanna, Co-Head of Digital Art at Sotheby's, said CryptoPunks have artistically and technically led the way for other NFT projects.

"CryptoPunks are the original PFP series that created the template for other NFT projects that have followed, and which helped propel NFTs to the global stage as one of the most recognizable visual styles that have become synonymous with the digital art movement," Mr Bouhanna said.

"To offer a group of 104 CryptoPunks as a single lot is a monumental occasion, and one that we are excited to present as a first-of-its-kind evening auction.

"Never before has there been a dedicated auction presenting NFTs on this level, and we can't wait to invite the NFT and crypto art community to participate in this special sale."

Fittingly, Sotheby's will accept cryptocurrency for payment of the NFTs with the winning bidder having the option to make final payment in Ether, Bitcoin, USD Coin or in fiat currencies.

A man accused of threatening grievous bodily harm against breakfast radio host Mike Hosking failed to show up at court today, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.Aucklander Rodney Robertson, whose interim name suppression…

Test your brains with the Herald’s afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

​A Tauranga charter boat company whose employee crashed one of its vessels into the base of Mauao after falling asleep has been convicted and discharged in the Tauranga District Court. Tauranga Fishing Charters Limited appeared…

Wellington’s annual music festival Homegrown has been cancelled because of the Omicron outbreak.It’s the second time in 15 years the festivalhasn’t been able to run- the first cancellation was in 2020 when Covid arrived in New Zealand….

The NSW Environment Protection Authority believes natural causes are most likely to blame for the deaths of thousands of fish in Sydney last week.

Thousands and fish and prawns were found floating in Haslams Creek flowing into Homebush Bay last Thursday.

On Sunday, thousands more were found dead on the Parramatta River in Rydalmere.

READ MORE: Grace Tame recounts threatening phone call

In both cases, low dissolved oxygen levels were detected in the water by the EPA.

"Preliminary investigations indicate low oxygen levels were not caused by chemical pollution and were more likely due to natural causes," the EPA said in a statement about the Haslams Creek fish kill.

"Observations by EPA Officers indicate low oxygen causing fish to die."

The fish kill at Haslams Creek was cleaned up by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

Preliminary investigations at Rydalmere have indicated the low oxygen levels were also due to natural causes.

READ MORE: Warnings over Premier's call for 'stringent' third jab mandate

"Observations by EPA Officers indicate low oxygen levels were caused by high intensity storms that washed organic matter into the waterway, which combined with elevated water temperatures, has caused the fish deaths," the EPA statement said.

"It is difficult to provide exact numbers but EPA officers estimate a few thousand fish have died, potentially up to 4000, in the Parramatta River at Rydalmere."

The clean-up has been hindered by the need to collect the fish without trampling the mangroves.

A New York couple has been arrested and charged with conspiring to launder US$4.5 billion ($6.29 billion) in stolen cryptocurrency funds.

Law enforcement officials have seized US$3.6 billion ($5 billion) of those funds in what US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco called "the department's largest financial seizure ever".

Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, are accused of trying to launder money taken in a huge hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016.

READ MORE: Sydney plumbers find $44m drug stash while fixing toilet

The arrests and money seizure mark a win for US law enforcement amid a slew of heists from cryptocurrency platforms.

Hackers have in recent years made off with hundreds of millions of dollars at a time in attacks on virtual currency exchanges.

Lichtenstein and Morgan are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries up to 20 years in prison, and conspiracy to defraud the US, which carries up to five years in prison, according to Justice officials.

An attorney for the couple could not be immediately reached for comment.

READ MORE: Cold front to slam into south-eastern Australia

The department did not announce charges for the actual hack of Bitfinex, and Justice Department officials declined to comment further, citing an ongoing investigation.

As the toll of ransomware and other hacks have grown on the economy, law enforcement agencies have looked to more aggressively track and seize the cryptocurrency often used by criminal hackers.

US officials last year recovered US$2.3 million ($3.21 million) of the US$4.4 million ($6.15 million) in ransom that Colonial Pipeline paid to a Russian-speaking gang.

"This shows that even when sophisticated money laundering techniques are used, the indelible blockchain records usually allow law enforcement to link criminal activity to individuals," Tom Robinson, co-founder of cryptocurrency analysis firm Elliptic, told CNN.

A Sydney drug dealer is cursing a broken toilet after a leaking pipe led to police discovering 220 kilograms of ice and $1.1 million in cash.

The drugs, with an estimated street value of $44 million, were found in a unit in Sydney's south-west after plumbers fixing a toilet pipe found bags of cash and a crystal substance in an open cupboard.

Police believe the unit was being used as a "safe house" to store the "illicit items".

READ MORE: Petrol prices hitting record 14-year highs in Australia

Detective Acting Superintendent Stuart Gordon said it would have been an unusual discovery for the tradesman.

"No tradesman really anticipates going to work on any given day and tripping over hundreds of kilos of drug and cash, certainly a good story for some people to tell I'm sure," he said.

Police were called and searched the unit and a locked garage underneath the residential complex.

In another search, officers found 15 cardboard boxes full of almost 220 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

READ MORE: Cold front slams into south-eastern Australia

Police also seized 95 grams of MDMA and 35 grams of cocaine, along with chemicals consistent with the manufacture of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and ice.

Almost $1.15 million – some of it hidden in a grocery bag – was found inside the unit and garage.

Detective Acting Superintendent Gordon said the people involved in the drug haul are part of organised crime.

"220 kg of drug is a lot of drugs in anyone's language and when we're talking these quantities of drugs and cash you're looking at organised crime," he said.

"We would say people involved in organised crime and moving this quantity of drugs are a risk to the public every day of the week."

Since the search and drug seizure in July last year, the investigation has rolled on and today police released CCTV of a man they believe could help with inquiries.

READ MORE: Putin said Russia won't 'escalate' Ukraine crisis, Macron claims

In the footage, the man is walking along Minter Street in Canterbury about 8.10pm on July 9, the day police first searched the unit.

Police believe he could be Asian, about 170cm tall and likely aged between 25-30.

Investigations are continuing.

Anyone with information about the incident or the man seen in the CCTV is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Robina Moran had not seen her family for two weeks before she died at Campbelltown Hospital, in Sydney's south west, at the age of 91.

"She died alone, scared and confused, thinking we didn't want to see her," her daughter Norma Toweel told 9news.com.au.

Ms Toweel and her sisters had been desperately begging staff to be allowed to see their mother, but were told they were not allowed because of COVID-19 regulations imposed during the Omicron outbreak.

Ms Moran died on January 3, three weeks after she had a fall at her home.

READ MORE: NSW nurses vote to strike for the first time in a decade

The day before her death, Ms Toweel said her sister received a call from hospital staff to say their mother had taken a turn for the worse and was refusing food and water.

"We asked to come in and see her, but were refused," Ms Toweel said.

"That night a nurse told my sister that we had entered palliative care, we were denied access and told to ring back in the morning.

"We got a phone call at 7am – she had passed away.

"It's just so unfair and cruel, it was like she was in prison."

NSW Hospitals are currently on red alert and visitors are restricted, however, there is a provision for visitors to be allowed where a patient is close to death or receiving palliative care.

"Visitors for patients receiving end of life or palliative care should not be restricted," NSW Health guidelines, published on the department's website, state.

"Visits by immediate family, support people and carers who meet the most current COVID-19 screening criteria on entry to the facility should be allowed."

Despite the guidelines, Ms Toweel is one of many distraught relatives who have come forward to recount their experiences of being denied the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones in hospital.

Gayle Roberts told 2GB's Ben Fordham yesterday of waiting five hours in a foyer – again at Campbelltown Hospital – only to have her mother pass away in her room alone.

9news.com.au has contacted Campbelltown Hospital for comment.

A hospital spokesperson told 2GB in relation to Ms Roberts' mother's case: "Ms Roberts should have been allowed to remain with her mother for compassionate reasons".

Other family members have told of being made to wait so long they were unable to say a proper goodbye by the time they were allowed in to hospital.

Debbie Cheetham told 9news.com.au her father, Len, was admitted on Friday to Maitland's new $470 million hospital in the Hunter Valley, which opened on January 19.

"At lunchtime on the Friday we were rung by a lovely doctor who informed us that my dad was actually was riddled with cancer, no one knew this before he entered hospital," Ms Cheetham said.

"We were beside ourselves not knowing if he knew, and, if he did, then he was lying in a bed with no one around him."

Ms Cheetham said she and her siblings' requests to visit their dad were denied over the next two days because he was not considered to be at the "end of life" stage.

This changed however, at 1am on Monday morning when Ms Cheetham received a call to say her father's condition had deteriorated and they should come in.

However, by the time she rushed to the hospital with her elderly mother and daughter, Ms Cheetham said it was virtually too late.

"We were ushered into a room but couldn't communicate with him as he was past that point and within three hours he had passed away," she said.

"Even though we got to the hospital before his last breathe we had been pleading for access to at least reassure him, and to try and say goodbyes.

"At no stage are we blaming doctors or nurses, but (it's) the hierarchy running the hospitals and the politicians sitting in offices that have no idea of what is happening."

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard was questioned by Fordham on 2GB this morning over the issue, which the emotional presenter described as an "appalling failure to show compassion and common sense".

https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/let-them-in-ben-fordhams-fiery-clash-with-health-m/embed

Mr Hazzard defended the situation, saying it was a "difficult balancing act" where the risk of spreading COVID-19 in a hospital setting needed to be considered.

However, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told 2GB's Deborah Knight yesterday afternoon families being denied access to dying loved ones was unacceptable.

"I've spoken to the health minister a number of times and we will be clarifying that to ensure this situation never happens again".

"Compassion needs to override caution in these circumstances."

Mr Perrottet has said the recent issues have been caused due to a lack of clarification in relation to COVID guidelines.

"It's become apparent that those guidelines are not clear enough.

"Vistors, families and friends need to be there for those incredibly precious last moments."

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au.