Woman in court over leaked police bank alert ahead of Christchurch attack anniversary

The woman was remanded on bail after appearing in court this morning. Photo / File

A 19-year-old woman charged with unlawful possession of a highly confidential New Zealand Police document has appeared in court.

The memo, sent by the police financial intelligence unit to financial institutions in late February, included a list of transactions which banks should look out for in the lead-up to the first anniversary this Sunday of the March 15 Christchurch mosque attacks.

It said the intelligence unit was aware of a number of transactions which were "common in the extreme right-wing community", the Herald reported.

The material has since been shared online by white supremacists on a private channel of the messaging app Telegram.

On the channel, views were expressed that appeared sympathetic to the alleged Christchurch shooter and to incite violence against police officers.

Detective Inspector Craig Hamilton, the national manager of the financial crime group, said a woman had been arrested in relation to the unlawful sharing of the document.

The Wellington woman appeared in the Wellington District Court this morning, where she is charged with unlawful possession of police property.

The woman was granted interim name suppression until her next appearance.

She did not enter a plea and was remanded on bail to reappear later this month.

"This material was shared in confidence to financial institutes for the purpose of assisting them with identifying suspicious financial activity.

"Police regularly provides advice to other agencies, including financial institutions, regarding the detection and reporting of suspicious activity."

Inquiries were ongoing and Hamilton said he could not rule out further arrests.

"The advice was issued with the goal of keeping our communities safe from harm, we want our communities to always be safe and feel safe."

As the matter was before the courts, police could not comment further on the matter, Hamilton said.

The police document included a warning that it can only be distributed internally and is marked "NOT FOR FURTHER DISSEMINATION".

White Rose Society Australia, which describes itself as an anti-fascist research group, said the Telegram channel where the document was published was based in Ukraine.

It alleged that the police document was published in the same channel where a threat was first made against the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch last week.

A 19-year-old Christchurch man, Sam Brittenden, was last week charged in relation to that threat.