Hong Kong: A New Zealand man who allegedly
fled to China after a bank mistakenly deposited millions of
dollars into his account has been extradited to face trial,
officials said on Wednesday.
Leo Gao Hui, 30, who operated a petrol station in New
Zealand, had been held in Hong Kong since September 29 after
he was arrested by Interpol officers as he tried to enter the
southern city from the mainland.
"Pursuant to an order for surrender made by the chief
executive, arrangements were made for the return of the man to
New Zealand today," Hong Kong police said in a statement.
Gao is wanted on multiple counts of theft and money
laundering.
He made international headlines in 2009 when he and
partner Kara Hurring went on the run after Westpac bank put 10
million New Zealand dollars (USD 7.58 million) into his
business account in response to his request for a 100,000 New
Zealand dollars overdraft.
The error was discovered within days but by then 6.78
million New Zealand dollars had allegedly been transferred
into other accounts and the pair had left New Zealand.
Hurring has already voluntarily returned to New Zealand
and will face trial next year on charges of stealing 11,000
New Zealand dollars and laundering 192,000 dollars in Macau.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 21, 2011, 16:22