KEY POINTS:
Fifty more fraud charges were today laid against a visiting couple and police are suggesting that a wider crime ring was involved.
The charges now totalling 81 involve credit card frauds and fraudulent use of documents such as passports by Suliaman Bin Haron, 50, and his wife Saerah Binte Men, 49.
They have been in custody since they were arrested in September and were today remanded for a pre-depositions conference session on November 20.
They have so far entered no pleas, and bail applications have been refused in Christchurch District Court and the High Court.
Among the new charges laid today, was a charge of conspiring with "Kevin, Wayne, Wong, Sam and a person or persons unknown to use various forged documents namely cloned Visa and Mastercards to obtain goods and services".
It is the first time other parties have been referred to in the charges.
A further charge alleges they conspired with "Kevin and a person or persons unknown" to use forged Spanish identity cards to obtain goods and services.
The pair were in New Zealand on visitors' permits, but police had earlier indicated they were not sure they knew their true identities. They are listed on the charge sheets as living in Singapore.
They are jointly charged with dishonestly obtaining credit cards in a variety of names and then using, or attempting to use them, to obtain items of property, food and hotel expenses, and parking.
The offending is alleged to have occurred in Auckland and Queenstown.
- NZPA
