The hunt for Rotorua's Westpac millionaire runaways is being described as "a farce" and "ludicrous" because police in China still cannot legally arrest them.
It has been four months since Leo Gao and Kara Hurring, aka Yang, fled New Zealand allegedly with $6.7 million Westpac had accidentally put in their bank account.
Despite police suspecting the pair are in China, they can't be legally arrested by Chinese authorities because of "issues" with the mutual-assistance request between the countries.
Rotorua Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Peter Bentley described the situation as "ludicrous" and the New Zealand Government would be "bending over backwards" if China was trying to find someone in New Zealand.
Rotorua Labour list MP Steve Chadwick said the Government needed to press the Chinese to find the pair as the situation was becoming a "farce".
Police have prepared a "mutual-assistance" request to the Chinese government.
But Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Colby, of Rotorua police, said this was still being worked through and could not be done quickly.
"[They are] just working through the issues that need to be resolved between Crown Law and the Chinese authorities.
"We are not trying to hide anything. There's no wilful lack of action on anyone's part. It's just a process that has taken some time."
It is understood New Zealand police need clearance by the Chinese government before Chinese police can be tasked with making an arrest. Mr Colby would not comment on whether police were confident of an arrest. Rotorua police had been fielding calls almost daily from media outlets, he said.
Mr Gao, whose business, Rotorua BP Barnetts, is now in receivership, disappeared in early May with his girlfriend after a Westpac staff member accidentally allowed a $10 million overdraft on their bank account.
About $6.7 million was withdrawn.
The bank has been trying to recover some of the money through court action but $3.8 million remains missing.
A family member, believed to be Ms Hurring's sister, Aroha Hurring, returned from Hong Kong soon after the couple disappeared, telling police her sister was in the Hong Kong area but she didn't know where Mr Gao was.
Mr Bentley said the time it had taken to find the pair was ludicrous: "With that much money you have got to be found ... If we get so little result from our relationship with the Chinese what does our fair-trade agreement mean?
"On the surface, the Chinese don't seem to give a toss. Do you think those issues would exist if the reverse was the case?"
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said from what he had read in the media it was unclear what law the pair had broken.
However, he would be prepared to seek the assistance of the police or foreign affairs ministers if he was approached by police or other parties involved in the investigation, but he had not yet been approached.
Mrs Chadwick said she would talk to Mr McClay about the need for the Government to step in. There might have been a "window" earlier for the pair to return within a protected environment but that had closed.
"The Government should be stepping in," Mrs Chadwick said.
Hunt for Westpac fugitives 'farcical'
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.