'Shoulder surfers' appear in court

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Two cases of "shoulder surfing" have come before Auckland courts today covering tens of thousands of dollars of alleged offending.

A group of four appeared at the North Shore District Court facing dozens of charges, while a man also appeared at Waitakere District Court over an alleged nationwide offending spree.

All defendants are said to have been involved in looking over the shoulder of their complainants -- most of whom were elderly -- while they used Eftpos machines or ATMs.

Once a pin number was obtained, it is alleged the defendants stole bank and credit cards before bleeding them dry of funds.

Noel Junior Karora, 37, came before Waitakere District Court for the first time this morning facing 15 charges across four complainants in four different areas of the country.

His lawyer Mark Ryan entered not guilty pleas on all charges but said there would be discussions with police about "potential resolution" before Karora's next appearance in February.

Court documents allege the Karora's offending spree began in Christchurch at the end of July, when he stole a bank card and attempted to use it a day later.

On August 1, police say Karora then popped up in Ashburton, allegedly taking another card and attempting to use it "to obtain a pecuniary advantage" over the next couple of days.

The pattern is alleged to have repeated three weeks later in Queenstown and then again in Auckland on September 29.

Invercargill Detective Sergeant Stu Harvey has said the total value of thefts was "into the tens of thousands of dollars, easily".

Karora's co-accused in the Queenstown matter -- Paul Tipene -- is still at large.

Meanwhile on the North Shore, Elder Browne, 36, Dion Stewart, 18, Tatum Martin, 19, and Lisa Martin, 34, appeared in front of Judge Pippa Sinclair.

The group are facing a slew of charges and though Browne and Stewart face more than the two female defendants, all are charged with participating in an organised criminal group.

They are alleged to have targeted at least eight elderly women, who lost more than $10,000 between them, between July and October.

No progress was made on advancing their cases today as lawyers asked for more time to discuss the police disclosure with their clients.

Browne was remanded in custody while his co-accused were bailed.

They will be back in court in January.