Man accused of using stolen bank cards to steal $19,000

File photo / NZ Herald

An Upper Hutt man accused of using stolen bank cards and fake driver's licences to steal $19,000 has appeared in court on 20 fraud-related charges.

Police said the 33-year-old man, who was remanded in custody when he appeared in Porirua District Court this morning, visited at least eight North Island banks, and used modified driver's licences to gain access to people's account information.

Numerous fraud complaints alerted police to the man's alleged actions last week and an Upper Hutt address was searched on Saturday.

The first complaint about the man's alleged offending came from ANZ in Paraparaumu, police said.

"After police made further enquiries, complaints were also received from Kiwi Bank Auckland, Kiwi Bank Otaki, Kiwi Bank Waikanae, ANZ Palmerston North, ANZ Paihiatua, ANZ Waikanae, ANZ Paraparaumu and ASB Paraparaumu," police said in a statement.

Wellington police communications manager Nick Bohm said $19,000 had been linked to the man's alleged offending.

The 20 charges he was facing include altering a document with intent to defraud, using a document for pecuniary advantage using a document for other product and obtains a document.

Mr Bohm said the man allegedly used a combination of modified driver's licences and stolen bank cards to carry out his offending.

An over-the-counter withdrawal of about $3000 was the largest amount stolen in a single transaction, Mr Bohm said.

Investigations by police revealed the man allegedly used fake drivers licences to check the amount of money in an account, then use a stolen eftpos card to withdraw funds.

In some instances he was able to withdraw money from bank tellers directly, Mr Bohm said.

"In the majority of cases, however, when he approached staff they started to ask him more questions and he's then [been] bailed from the banks...because the ID he was providing didn't look 100 per cent."

The man is due to reappear in Porirua District Court tomorrow.