A Bay of Plenty man dubbed the ‘runaway millionaire' after he fled the country with millions of dollars is appealing his sentence at the Court of Appeal in Auckland.
Former Rotorua petrol station owner Leo Gao was sentenced to four years and seven months' jail after pleading guilty to seven charges of theft in June, 2012.
The 32-year-old fled the country with $6.7million after Westpac Bank mistakenly loaded a $10million overdraft into his account in 2009.
AAP reports Gao is seeking to reduce his sentence as he says he is not a 'fraudster but an opportunist taking advantage of a bank error”.
His lawyer is seeking a reduced sentence.
Gao was arrested crossing from China to Hong Kong in September 2011, following a two-and-a-half year police investigation.
He was extradited back to New Zealand to face 16 counts of theft and 11 of money laundering.
The money was transferred overseas to 23 bank accounts and despite efforts by Westpac and authorities to recover the money, $3.7million is still unaccounted for.
1 comment
Not a fraudster???
Posted on 14-05-2013 16:06 | By Calm Gully
How did money end up in 23 overseas accounts, if he didn't intend fraud? He is more than an opportunist, it was planned and dishonest. No reduced sentence!!!
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