KEY POINTS:
The teenager under investigation for his role in a $26 million computer hack has been fired from his first job as a programmer after coming under scrutiny by the authorities.
Owen Whyte, 18, who is also known as "Snow" Whyte and "Snow" Walker, had his contract with Trio Software Development Ltd terminated after management discovered their contractor was facing questions over the international scam.
But company director Glenn Campbell, of Wellington, said, despite the sacking, he believed that Whyte was an unwitting player in the remarkable scam.
But a team of cyber-crime investigators from around the world believes Whyte is involved - and possibly masterminded - a complex internet fraud involving more than one million computers and $26 million.
The investigation involves the FBI, the US Secret Service, Dutch authorities and police in New Zealand. They believe he took control of a vast network of computers which cyber-criminals paid to use.
Campbell said Whyte had been employed on a part-time basis to work on one of its products. The company develops tourism software - including TourWriter, which allows travel firms to build and develop itineraries.
"He had worked for us since July. He was a reliable and intelligent contractor - a brilliant programmer. We're completely shocked by it."
Campbell said Whyte was hired to work on a "small coding project". "When everything broke this week, we terminated his contract. It was his first job."
Police had contacted the company and spoken with the lead programmer before Whyte was sacked, he said.
"We did an audit on his work and we were completely satisfied and happy with it. We have done a review of our systems and are completely satisfied."
The company had alerted customers to Whyte's employment - and sacking - in an email sent out a few days ago.
However, Campbell did not believe that Whyte would have actively sought trouble - or illegal activity.
He said he believed Whyte's involvement to be "blown out of proportion". "It seems to me it's possibly been a case of him doing some and it getting into the wrong hands."
Former classmates at Whitianga's Mercury Bay Area School and friends of the family said Whyte was a lonely pupil who was bullied, before being pulled out of school after Year 8, in 2002.
From that time on, he was schooled at home where, they say, he turned a fascination with computers into a mastery. He remains smaller than others of his age, with long hair worn down his neck.
Whyte's father, Billy Whyte, and mum Michelle Moxham-Whyte, said yesterday that no one in the family would comment on the allegations. They were speaking from the same family home that was searched by police just days ago, from which electronic and computer equipment was seized for further examination.
Billy Whyte and Michelle Moxham-Whyte run Whitianga's popular Paradise Taxi service.
One family friend said she had been told by Michelle Moxham-Whyte that Owen had been pulled out of school at the end of 2002 to be taught at home after being bullied.
One former classmate said Owen was well-known at school even then for his aptitude and interest in computers. His friends tended to be those who shared similar interests - including one who gained brief schoolyard infamy by hacking school computers.
"He was a pretty individual person," said one classmate. "He was all right, but a loner."
