The friend has name suppression.
Gao is also on a 24-hour curfew to his brother's home in Avondale and is not allowed to have access to the internet.
Outside court, Mr Mansfield told APNZ that his office had been in touch with Gao.
"He is pleased and relieved.''
He said Gao was looking forward to spending time with family, including his daughter.
Gao faces 16 charges of theft of $6,782,000 and two charges of money laundering at the Rotorua District Court.
He has been ordered to surrender his passport to police and not make contact with his former partner Kara Hurring.
The charges relate to offending alleged to have been committed between April 24 and May 5, 2009 in Rotorua and Auckland.
Gao had applied to Westpac for a $100,000 overdraft in 2009 for his struggling BP petrol station but the bank accidentally transferred a $10 million overdraft in to his account. When he realised the error he allegedly skipped the country.
Hurring, and the mother of his child, followed days later.
Gao is accused of transferring almost $6.8 million of Westpac's money into several accounts before fleeing overseas.
About $3.7 million has not been recovered.
The couple's disappearance sparked an international manhunt involving Interpol and other overseas agencies.
Gao was arrested in Hong Kong in September last year and was returned to New Zealand just before Christmas. He did not oppose being extradited and was remanded in custody.
Hurring, 32, was arrested when she re-entered New Zealand earlier last year. She faces trial in May.
