An accountant has been charged with duping seven clients out of half a million dollars - including $166,000 from one person - but he denies the allegations and says he will vigorously defend them.
The man is due to appear in the Hamilton District Court today to face 24 charges for the alleged offending, between 2003 and last year.
There are 18 charges of obtaining by deception, four of using a document for pecuniary advantage and two of theft by a person in a special relationship, totalling more than $506,000 in losses.
In one case the man, who has interim name suppression, allegedly told a client he used more than $3200 she gave him to use for solicitor fees to bring his partner back to New Zealand from overseas.
One client is alleged to have lost $166,000 through a property investment scheme that went sour.