Pair found guilty of $14m rip-off

A New Zealander and an Australian have been found guilty of defrauding dozens of investors of more than $14 million.

A Rotorua District Court jury yesterday found 50-year-old Lee Papple of Rotorua and 45-year-old Tina West of Australia guilty of conspiring to commit fraud.

But the jury could not decide whether Lee Papple's husband, Bill Papple, 68, was involved in the schemes through which $14.6 million was fleeced from investors.

Judge James Weir refused to grant bail to Lee Papple and West and remanded them in custody until sentencing on January 28.

He said it would not be appropriate to grant them bail because they both faced substantial prison sentences.

Bill Papple has been released on bail until a callover for a new trial date, to be set next year.

The trio collectively faced six counts of fraud. The main charge was that they conspired to defraud members of the public between 2000 and 2002 by fraudulently collecting $14.6 million.

There was a mix of verdicts for the remaining five counts, which were of a less serious nature.

For two years from 2000, Lee Papple and West ripped off more than 120 people, mainly from the Bay of Plenty.

-NZPA