An accountant facing fraud charges totalling half a million dollars has been denied the return of his passport to fly to Rarotonga to get married.
The man, who has name suppression, said he wanted to fly to Pacific Island tomorrow with his partner to get married next Wednesday, despite his mother being terminally ill.
"I've talked this matter over with my brother and with her [his mother] and they would like to see me go to Rarotonga to get married because that would be what Mum would want," the man told the Hamilton District Court this morning.
"She doesn't want me to be held back even though she is very unwell at the moment ... and so I've already said my goodbyes to Mum. That's how it goes."
The 39-year-old, who is facing 24 charges for alleged offending between 2003 and last year, said December 12 was an important date because his mother was married on a similar date.
He said he planned to return for his mother's funeral and to vigorously defend the charges against him.
Previously a bankrupt in 2003, the accountant faces 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.
One client is alleged to have lost $166,000 through a property investment scheme that went sour while another client claims to have lost $130,000 through a similar scheme.
Police opposed the application for bail variation and Judge Glen Marshall declined it but suppressed the reasons why.
The man was remanded on bail to reappear in court next Tuesday when his interim name suppression would be discussed.