Physics lecturer baffled Interpol still want him

Despite being sentenced and ordered to pay US$12,000 by a New Zealand district court judge, Timothy Christopher Anthony Molteno remains on Interpol's wanted persons website. Photo / Supplied

A New Zealand physics lecturer convicted of hacking into a US website a decade ago is baffled that Interpol still have him listed as an internationally wanted man.

The intergovernmental police organisation wants to trace South Africa-born Timothy Christopher Anthony Molteno, 48, on behalf of Oregon authorities.

In 2005, Molteno was convicted of hacking into US online shopping website, buymusichere.com, where he used to work, and "intentionally causing damage".

Despite being sentenced to 200 hours of community work and ordered to pay the website US$12,000 by a New Zealand district court judge, he remains on Interpol's wanted persons website.

He is now a senior physics lecturer at Otago University who completed his sentence years ago and says he has nothing to hide.

"I don't quite know why this has happened. Once alerts go out, they never seem to come off," he said.

Dr Molteno's red notice was issued by the Interpol office in Washington.

"Any enquiries regarding the status of this notice and any ongoing investigations should be referred to United States authorities," a New Zealand police spokesman told NZME. News Service.

Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France did not respond to enquiries.

It's understood that although Dr Molteno was convicted on the charges in New Zealand, US authorities still want him tried in their courts.

A police source said that Dr Molteno's relatively low level crime means he would not face extradition.

But if he ever returns to the US -- something he has no plans to do -- he would likely be taken into custody.

While Dr Molteno is baffled about why he's still wanted by US authorities, he has taken a philosophical approach.

"You can either choose to fight it or not worry about it and I choose not to worry about it," he said.

"It's been quite some years now. I've got a life to lead and I'd rather put my energies into doing cool stuff."

He added: "I suppose 100 years ago, everyone would've had hundreds of secrets, but maybe now it's the age where we don't have any secrets any more."

Dr Molteno is one of five New Zealanders currently being hunted by the international police organisation.

• Kiwi businessman Garth Peter Worthington is accused of duping a German investor out of NZ$1.7 million over an eco-housing deal.

Prosecutors in Croatia's capital Zagreb filed an indictment implicating Worthington, alongside others, in the alleged scam between 2009 and 2010. However, it's believed that the Te Kuiti-born 60-year-old skipped the country.

• They also want to catch up with mixed martial arts fighter Peter Phillip Leaitua, who last year was cleared of manslaughter after his mother-in-law died transporting cocaine in her stomach from Buenos Aires to Auckland.

A jury at the High Court at Auckland was last year unable to determine whether Leaitua, 44, was guilty of being a party to importing cocaine.

Interpol issued a wanted persons alert for Spanish-speaking Leaitua on behalf of Argentine authorities who want him to face drug smuggling charges.

• Interpol are also tracking 63-year-old dual New Zealand-China citizen Enguang Yu, pursued by China to face smuggling charges, and Selby Dean Freeman, 31, wanted in Malaysia for drug possession.