Men arrested after police swoop on Auckland bank

Four men will appear in court tomorrow after they allegedly kidnapped two men and forced them to withdraw thousands of dollars from a south Auckland bank.

The accused men, aged 20, 21, and two aged 22, will appear in Auckland District Court on two kidnapping charges each, after a night in police cells.

Police claim they kidnapped two Asian men last night, held them in a city hotel overnight and then took them separately to two bank branches in Otahuhu and Newmarket about 9am today.

Two of the men accompanied each of the hostages and at the Otahuhu branch of the ASB Bank the hostage withdrew more than $10,000.

However, as the second victim was withdrawing money from the Newmarket branch of the National Bank, he slipped the teller a note saying he was being held against his will and to call police.

Police said a car was sent less than two minutes after they received the 111 emergency call and one of the four accused men was apprehended inside the bank.

A second man was found outside in a car, a third was found on foot nearby and the fourth was found in a car on Khyber Pass Rd.

Police said the four men may face further charges.

Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty would not say exactly how much money was withdrawn but said it was between $10,000 and $20,000 from the Otahuhu branch.

Neither of the victims was thought to have been hurt.

One of the men charged was a visitor from China, one was a Kingsland student, one was unemployed with no fixed abode and the fourth told police he was a rice cook.

- NZPA