$10 Million Bank Error: ‘Runaway Millionaire’ Pleads Not Guilty, Says Partner was Secretive
A Rotorua woman accused of running away after a bank mistakenly credited her partner's business account with $NZ10 million told the court she knew nothing about the bank error.
The hearing that began on Tuesday at the Rotorua District Court continued yesterday, with the alleged runaway saying her partner hid the bank error from her.
Kara Mary-Jo Hurring, 33, faces charges involving 25 counts of theft, three counts of attempting to dishonestly use a document, and two counts of money laundering involving $256,500. She pleaded not guilty in all charges.
Hurring's partner, Hui or Leo Gao, also from Rotorua, was a service station owner. Gao arranged for a $10,000 bank overdraft for his ailing service station business. But a clerical error gave his business account $10 million. After realizing the mistake, Gao allegedly fled with Hurring to Hong Kong in May 2009.
In a video shown to the court, Hurring said Gao had been very secretive ever since he checked his laptop for information in April 2009. He then began "yahooing and yelling as if he was on another planet," Hurring told a detective.
Hurring insisted she was not aware of the money being transferred to various offshore accounts and added Gao had initially not wanted her to go with him to China.
Hurring said she wanted to return to New Zealand in 2010, but she changed her mind after discovering that she was pregnant with Gao's child.
Gao was arrested in September last year, but a trial date for him has not been set.