Refugees rob elderly in $100,000 bank card scam

A family of foreign criminals stole more than $100,000 from vulnerable, elderly women in an elaborate bank and Eftpos card scam across the North Island.

The criminals - asylum seekers on day leave from an Auckland refugee migrant centre - "shoulder surfed" elderly women who were using their money cards in shopping centres, noting their pin numbers as they purchased goods or withdrew money.

Later, they would pickpocket the women, stealing the cards and then spending money on the pokies, haircuts and fast food.

Over two months, the Romanian asylum-seekers stole more than $107,000 from 43 women across Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga.

And their spree started just 11 days after they first arrived in the country.

The Romanians - Tony Costache, his wife Nagie Cerchez, teenage son Denis and Costache's gay lover, Costica Bursuc - were last week jailed for between two and three years on dishonesty charges and passport fraud.

They face deportation after their eventual release.

The sophisticated crime ring will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars - including accommodating the asylum seekers at the Refugee and Migrant Centre in Mangere, legal aid and, now, their years in prison.

One of the four, Bursuc, has yet to withdraw his application for asylum and still seeks refuge in New Zealand once he is released.

On leave from the migrant centre, the four would stroll around busy malls and supermarkets targetting elderly women shopping alone. In many cases, each card was used multiple times to withdraw money or buy items before the women realised they were victims - a total of 281 transactions, some as low as $9 for a kebab.

Police noticed a distinct pattern of thefts being reported, and detectives trawled through hours of security camera footage to identify the suspects as they stalked as a pack.

Denis, 18, "shoulder surfed" the victim, peering over her shoulder as she entered her pin number at an ATM or shop counter. He typed the four-digit number into his cellphone while the remaining trio lay in wait.

Moments later, Costache, 36, and Bursuc, 24, would box in the victim from behind and the side to block any potential witnesses to the impending crime.

Cerchez would deftly reach into the woman's handbag and snatch a purse or wallet.

Only one of the victims noticed her wallet was missing and confronted the pickpockets - police have found 43 victims but believe there could be another 20. Within minutes of the theft, the fraudsters withdrew cash from ATMs and transferred thousands of dollars to one of their own accounts, or went on a shopping spree - to the tune of $107,000.

The thieves spent most of the money on everyday items. Expensive haircuts at Rodney Wayne hair salon and a flutter on the pokies at SkyCity stood out among bills for groceries, petrol, fast food, haircuts, cheap jewellery and tools.

Up to $15,000 was loaded on to Vodafone phone accounts, which police believe the immigrants then used to buy other Vodafone products to sell for a profit. At night, the Romanians would return to the basic communal living of the migrant centre in Mangere, where no one was aware of their daytime crimes sprees.

Speaking on behalf of Costica Bursuc, lawyer David Young said his client was seeking asylum to escape persecution in his homeland for being gay and of Gypsy origin. Homosexuality is illegal in Romania.

Bursuc was keen to stay in the country and was awaiting a decision on his appeal for asylum, said Mr Young. "He certainly apologises for his actions and would like to pay the money back if given a chance to stay in New Zealand." Desperation drove the pickpockets to stealing, said Mr Young, as they had few clothes and possessions in the refugee settlement camp.

Mr Young was unsure whether the camp needed tighter rules regarding day leave for migrants, who are allowed out between 9am and 9pm.

The case was Constable Charles Winstone's first with Auckland's fraud squad. He said: "It's not a typical Kiwi crime.

"I've never heard of anything like it. It's so open and blatant. It started off as one of those simple inquiries and it just blew up." Mr Winstone said the pickpockets were skilled, and had honed their craft to perfection.

Watching footage of the convicted criminals, he pointed out the dexterity and deviousness of their work.

"You can see these old dears have their handbags hanging loosely over their arms. Then it's gone. The gang had to practise 100 times to get it right."

Amazed at their brazen attitude to crime, he said the pickpockets could not believe the police had found them. "They were shocked when we picked them up with the search warrant."