Fundraiser fraud misses court date - again

The case has been called in Auckland District Court three times in the last month. Photo / File

A woman accused of using an online fundraising site to rip off nearly $20,000 has missed another court appearance due to her "very complex" medical issues.

It is alleged the 23-year-old woman - who has interim name suppression - fraudulently fundraised on donation website Givealittle, claiming to have cancer.

In September, police laid three charges of obtaining a pecuniary advantage totalling more than $15,000 by deception and a fourth charge of obtaining a lease of a car by deception.

Two weeks ago a new charge was laid alleging she also obtained whiteware worth $4462 by deception.

Her case has been called in Auckland District Court three times in the last month and today - like previous occasions - her attendance was excused.

She was due to enter pleas to the charges but that could not take place because of her absence.

Her lawyer Alex Steedman provided two reports to the court from a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist, which detailed his client's "very complex presentation".

He said the woman had at least 50 hospital admissions on record and held up a large ring binder folder - apparently one of nine such files - to show Judge Sarah Fleming the volume of documents involved in her medical history.

At the last hearing, the court heard how the defendant had been hospitalised with stress-induced paralysis, which had affected the entire right side of her body.

Mr Steedman said that, despite suppression, the 23-year-old had been hounded on social media and had deleted her Facebook profile as a result.

He said online threats had been made and last week someone claiming to be a courier knocked on his client's door and assaulted her, landing her back in hospital.

The court heard the defendant's underlying condition was likely "conversion disorder" - where extreme physical symptoms arise in response to stress.

Mr Steedman said she was also diagnosed as suffering from "major depression".

Givealittle founder and services manager Nathalie Whitaker earlier said it had been the first time a Givealittle page had been at the centre of a police investigation.

Ms Whitaker said the website didn't authenticate every page that was set up and relied on the public to alert them to any concerns.

The case will be called again this afternoon when name suppression will be argued.