Whether they were living it up in Hong Kong and Macau or adapting to life on the mainland, the couple who fled New Zealand with NZ$10 million (HK$55 million) of bank money had always remained one step ahead of the law - until now.
Kara Hurring, one of the 'accidental millionaires', as the pair is known in the New Zealand media, appeared in Rotorua District Court yesterday to face multimillion-dollar theft charges. Her former boyfriend, Leo Gao Hui, is still at large.
Hurring and Gao disappeared in May 2009 after a Westpac Bank employee transferred NZ$10 million instead of NZ$100,000 to Gao's bank account following a teller's 'keying error'. Westpac spotted the error after NZ$6.7 million was withdrawn, but retrieved less than half of that amount, leaving the couple with NZ$3.8 million.
A few weeks later, Gao spent NZ$658,643 at the Wynn Macau casino. The couple were partying in Macau and Hong Kong, according to Hurring's sister, Aroha, who joined the fugitives and posted updates on Facebook about their escapades.
However, the couple reportedly separated soon after they arrived in China, and Gao left Hurring with very little money. She returned to New Zealand voluntarily last month and was arrested at Auckland International Airport.
Hurring and Gao face one charge each of stealing NZ$6,782,000 from Westpac in the North Island city of Rotorua on April 24, 2009. They are also charged with eight counts each of laundering amounts ranging from NZ$362,968 to NZ$502,151.
Hurring's lawyer, Simon Lance, said she would fight the charges and that she denied any involvement in them. Hurring is to reappear in court on March 21.