What would you do if $10 million was accidentally put into your bank account?
Back in 2009 Rotorua couple Kara Hurring and Leo Gao faced that question when it happened to them.
Their answer was to run and now Hurring will reveal her untold story and the reasons behind heractions in a new telefeature.
Filming at the Owhata shops on Wednesday. Photo / Ben Fraser
Gao had asked for a $100,000 overdraft for his struggling Rotorua service station but a misplaced decimal point saw him mistakenly receive $10m instead.
Kara Hurring leaves the Rotorua courthouse in 2012. Photo / File
Hurring and Gao skipped the country just days later. Hurring transferred funds overseas and wasn't caught until she returned to New Zealand two years later in 2011.
Gao was arrested in Hong Kong after a two-year police operation.
He was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison while Hurring served nine months' home detention.
The story that captured New Zealand and the rest of the world was brought back to Rotorua this week as a new telefeature, Runaway Millionaires, was being partly filmed in the city.
The BP service station previously on Old Taupo Rd in Rotorua. Photo / File
A 70-person film crew has been in Rotorua recreating parts of the story this week.
The telefeature will reveal Hurring's untold story and the reasons behind her actions. She has never spoken publicly about the incident.
Kara Hurring and Leo Gao were dubbed the "Runaway Millionaires" after $10m was accidentally put into Gao's account. Photo/ File
Runaway Millionaires producers Carmen Leonard and Deb Cope, of Fearless Productions, said the 90-minute feature would air on TV 1 in the new year and would look into the life Hurring set up with her young children while on the run in China.
Leonard said New Zealanders loved watching stories about New Zealanders and the pair loved telling audiences things they did not know.
"Leo has given a number of interviews but no one has ever heard Kara's story," Leonard said.
"Kara has never ever told anyone what actually happened to her. It's such a great story."
Kara Hurring, centre, arrives at court for sentencing in 2012. Photo / File
The idea of the telefeature came up in late 2015 when Cope was researching for her next potential project.
After completing a number of period pieces including Hillary, Cope said she wanted to do something contemporary and with a strong female lead, and Leonard agreed.
The producers put the idea to broadcaster TVNZ, who "came back in 15 minutes" and granted funding for a script to be written.
The crew tracked down Hurring, who was hesitant to bring the story up again but eventually agreed.
Scriptwriter Pip Hall spent time interviewing Hurring and the telefeature was given up to $2,758,465 of funding from NZ on Air.
About 55 crew and 30 cast will film in Rotorua this week. Photo/ Supplied
The producers said it was only natural to film part of the telefeature in Rotorua where the story initially took place and it was the first time the pair had worked in the city.
Leonard said filming in Rotorua had been a great experience and they had always wanted to film a story in the regions.
"Everyone has been awesome and very friendly," she said.
The feature will take about five weeks to film with the majority taking place in Auckland.
About 40 people make up the base crew and there are 30 members of the cast.
