$1.4m bank fraud accused named

File Photo / Richard Robinson

A woman allegedly at the centre of an alleged $1.4 million Waikato fraud bank fraud has been named.

Judge Robert Spear confirmed in Hamilton District Court this week that name suppression for former Westpac banker Susan Ann Bourton had lapsed, The Waikato Times reported.

The 35-year-old former business banker faces 65 fraud and dishonesty charges stemming from her employment at a Hamilton branch of Westpac between 2005 and 2006. It is alleged she benefited by $600,000.

In opposing name suppression at last week's hearing the Crown alleged police had received complaints from two banks at which Bourton had applied for a $1.5 million loan using an allegedly forged driver's licence while on bail. The money was to be used to buy a luxury lodge near Karapiro.

- NZPA