Prasad murder: Accused allegedly spent $25k in two days

Shivneel Kumar (left) and Bryne Permal flank a security guard in the High Court at Auckland.

Two Auckland men accused of burning a 21-year-old man to death over his life savings used nearly $25,000 within 48 hours of the alleged murder, a court has heard.

Shivneel Kumar, 20, and Bryne Permal, 22, are on trial in the High Court at Auckland charged with the murder of Shalvin Prasad, whose smouldering body was found on a rural South Auckland road on the morning of January 31, 2013.

The previous day, the victim withdrew his life savings of $30,050 - in $100 and $50 bills - from a Manukau bank while Kumar waited outside, the Crown says.

Detective Simon Taylor scoured the bank accounts of both accused and the victim and gave evidence today of all transactions in the days after Mr Prasad's death.

He said within hours, $24,937 had either been spent or deposited into other accounts by Kumar and Permal.

On the night of January 30, Permal paid $33 cash for petrol, which Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins said was used to burn the victim alive.

The following day Kumar made a cash deposit of $500 to an account, $14,000 into his parents' account, as well as spending nearly $4000 on his car, Mr Taylor said.

His summary of the activity also saw Permal deposit $4100 cash into his account on February 1.

The Crown says that was the money he received for his involvement in the murder.

Last week, the High Court at Auckland heard about an alleged "spending spree" the defendants went on, which included splashing out on tattoos, jewellery and clothing on February 2.

A car electronics store manager also gave evidence about having lunch with Kumar, during which he told them he owned a company with his father, while they worked on his car.

"He explained they were doing quite well ... he said they had just bought a couple of brand new Mercedes," the manager said.

Opening the Crown case, Mr Perkins said Kumar was in serious financial difficulty to the extent that his car tyres had been worn down to the metal.

"He had no job and no money in the bank," he said.

And Mr Taylor today detailed several accounts to which Kumar had access which were in overdraft or contained very little money.

Mr Aaron Perkins told the jury Kumar was "the instigator and driving force" behind the alleged crime.

"He considered a sum of money was worth more than Mr Prasad's life," he said.

The trial before Justice Geoffrey Venning and a jury of six women and six men is scheduled to last another three weeks.