A South Island couple facing serious fraud charges after they allegedly collected more than $1 million from friends, family and associates claiming they needed money for fictitious cancer treatment have appeared in court for a second time.
And, they are facing new charges.
Andrew Stewart Jones, 28, and Sepiuta Setaita Vave, 38, appeared in the Christchurch District Court at 10am before Judge Brian Callaghan.
Jones and Vave appeared in court earlier this month, each facing four charges of obtaining by deception on numerous occasions between 2021 and February this year.
There are also a raft of charges predating that court appearance, and police have not ruled out further charges as they continue to investigate the alleged fraud.
The pair appeared in court separately via audio-visual link.
Through her lawyer Colin Eason, Vave entered pleas of not guilty to all charges and elected to stand trial before a jury.
She was remanded in custody until their next appearance on September 25 at 11.45am.
Jones did not enter pleas.
He was also remanded in custody by consent until his next hearing on September 10 at 2.15pm.
His lawyer told the court he would seek bail on that date.
All of the complainant’s names and identifying details have been suppressed.
Last week, police confirmed they had identified further potential victims.
Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Dye said today that four potential victims contacted police as a result of media coverage of the couple’s charges.
“Police inquiries have identified another three potential victims,” he said.
“This is on top of the three people who had already made complaints to police, and resulted in the arrests of the pair.”
Dye also released further details of the couple’s arrest.
They were taken into police custody at a Wānaka property last week. They had recently relocated from the West Coast.
“A search warrant conducted on a storage unit in Wanaka as part of the enquiry last week located a .22 rifle, restricted weapons and over 2000 rounds of ammunition,” said Dye.
“Further inquiries in relation to the warrant are ongoing, and charges are likely to be filed in coming weeks.”
Dye thanked people who had contacted police and said the investigation into the couple was ongoing.
“Members of the Tasman Organised Crime Unit are in the process of contacting all identified victims in order to obtain statements in relation to any offending.”
The specialist team began investigating the alleged offenders two weeks before their arrest.
Dye said since moving to Wānaka, they “have been living the high life with rented properties and high-end European cars”.
“Their lavish lifestyle has been funded with money allegedly defrauded from family, friends and associates for cancer treatment that inquiries show was never required and never obtained,” he said.
Dye said police acted “as promptly as possible” when the alleged offending came to light, “to prevent further offending on this scale”.
“Members of the TOCU will continue to investigate this matter to ensure all offenders are held to account,” he said.
“Inquiries to date, including an ongoing financial analysis of bank accounts used by the couple, indicate there are other victims who have not yet spoken with police.
“We’re identifying who they are and will be investigating their complaints.”
The couple were already facing criminal charges before their arrest.
“Existing matters against the couple were filed at court in April 2024 for fraud-related offending against another two victims, totalling $79,000,” Dye revealed.
As part of the ongoing investigation, police are “seizing assets where possible” to assist with any possible reparation.
“And so that potential victims are protected from further offending by this couple,” Dye said.
“If you feel like you have given money away to this couple that matches some of the deceptive reasons mentioned here, or have information that can assist the inquiry, contact the Tasman Organised Crime Unit.
“We’re based in Greymouth, where the team will be actively investigating your complaint.”
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for almost 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz