Busy retail areas in Takapuna, New Lynn, Silverdale and Henderson are "hot spots" where motorists are most likely to have their cars stolen or broken into.

Two lots of Good Samaritans in Gisborne who helped a man dressed as a woman had their kindness repaid with being robbed.

A Waikato regional councillor has pocketed more than $40,000 in expenses - taking his annual salary into the six-figure bracket.

Stock, cattle drenches, electric fences and even unused scrap metal are in the crosshairs of thieves targeting farms and rural lifestyle blocks.

Leo Gao describes his regrets after succumbing to temptation following Westpac's $10m bank error.

Leo Gao went to his jail bed last night refusing to say what happened to almost $4 million. More than three years after disappearing after a banking blooper put $10m into his account, he admitted temptation proved too much as he struggled financially.

The man dubbed the "accidental millionaire" has been sentenced to four years and seven months in prison.

A man who targeted Asian families in Auckland and helped hatch a plan to rob a Whangarei tavern blamed pressure from gangs on his spree.