Fugitive leaves dog tied to kennel

Gao's abandoned home. Photo / Alan Gibson

Leo Gao fled Rotorua in such a hurry that he left his border collie Sam tied up in a kennel in the garden.

The Weekend Herald understands the dog was stuck for a week before neighbours realised what had happened and called the SPCA.

The scene at Gao's modest three-bedroom Rotorua home yesterday suggested his mother and brother, who lived at the property, left town with little more than the clothes on their backs.

The lawns had been recently mowed and many possessions were still at the house. The home appeared as if the family were just out for the day.

A small amount of mail was in the letterbox - including a letter from Westpac Bank.

At Auckland Airport, there was more evidence of a hasty exit from the country. Gao's rundown, white Holden Commodore ute was last night sitting deserted, in Row B of the long-term carpark.

In the back lay a crumpled, sodden, dirt-splattered white duvet, a full bag of Pedigree dog biscuits, a rusty handsaw and bits of discarded rubbish.

The windscreen displayed a Warrant of Fitness that expired in February and a registration sticker that ran out on May 5.

Gao and business partner Huan Di Zhang left several properties in New Zealand.

At Gao's Couldry St property in Eden Terrace, Auckland, worried residents had not seen or heard from their landlord in weeks and feared their power and internet would be cut if he was not there to pay the bills.

He typically called in to the old wooden building - a communal living set-up comprising five units with joint bathroom and kitchen facilities - every month or so, to do maintenance and tenancy-change forms, they said.

Student Finn Scott-Kelly, 19, was surprised Gao needed the money.

"He seems to own a lot of property around the place ... Maybe he's got a massive mortgage or something."

Mr Scott-Kelly said a representative of "a bank" - who did not say which one - called in earlier in the week asking about Gao's whereabouts.

Despite the international manhunt under way, few people in Rotorua who knew Gao had a bad word to say about him yesterday.

His work neighbour of the past couple of years, Peter Davis, who manages the Zero to 100 automotive centre, said Gao probably realised he and business partner Huan Di Zhang had "bought a lemon" when they took over the service station. Mr Davis said Gao tried "anything to make a buck".

Among his schemes were racks of cheap imported $2 toys, fishing rods and books.

Raman Ranchod, another friend of Gao's who runs a dairy nearby, said Gao would sometimes run out of cigarettes and tobacco. He would come over to Mr Ranchod's store asking if he could "borrow" some until his next delivery of goods arrived.

"He was a good guy and we had an understanding, so it was fine," he said.

Helaine Aim, a close friend to the 30-year-old Young, said she was "a genuine Kiwi girl".

Ms Aim had heard through friends that Young had gone to Auckland and was now in the South Island with her mother.

She said given his dire financial situation it was "understandable" Gao skipped the country. "I hope they never catch him. I'm on Team Leo, I'm afraid."