A Rotorua woman who stole nearly a million dollars from 16 different victims has succeeded in keeping her name suppression for now.
A Rotorua woman who stole nearly a million dollars from 16 different victims has succeeded in keeping her name suppression for now.
A Rotorua woman accused of stealing almost a million dollars from 16 victims has succeeded in keeping her identity secret - at least for now.
The woman, who faces 26 Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charges, appeared in the Rotorua District Court yesterday where she applied for interim name suppression tocontinue. It was granted at her first appearance last month.
The woman told Judge Chris McGuire she was at a disadvantage as she had not yet had a Legal Aid lawyer assigned to her. Judge McGuire granted her continued suppression until Friday when the issue will be argued again. The woman is charged with 16 counts of withdrawing money from investor accounts held for her victims - who included individuals, trusts and family trusts. The total allegedly stolen is $997,018, ranging from $7017 to $198,014.
She also faces five charges of dishonestly using cheques to obtain $75,000 and five of making false invoices with the intent to use them to obtain property.
She has not yet entered a plea to any of the charges, which Rotorua Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon said arose from an SFO investigation that had been ongoing for some time.
An SFO spokeswoman told the Rotorua Daily Post last month no further details of the investigation would be released while the woman's name was suppressed.
