An armed robber ordered customers to the floor while an accomplice fled with a "substantial amount" of cash from a bank yesterday.

A shop assistant was held at gunpoint last night - prompting the widow of a slain liquor store owner to call for imitation firearms to be banned from sale.

The wife of the $18 million ASB fraudster has spoken of her pain as other family lash out at the big-spending criminal.

The ASB bank investment adviser who stole $17.8m charged his parents interest on a loan to move into a retirement home - then asked for the money back when his fraud was discovered.

A victim of Stephen Versalko's $17.8 million fraud has spoken of the day she was told he had been "naughty" and had defrauded her and 25 other investors out of millions of dollars.

The scale of the fraud makes Stephen Versalko's case the largest single employment theft in New Zealand history.

Customers who fail to read the fine print could find themselves out of pocket should their PIN numbers be compromised.

Hackers who stole the credit card details of thousands of drivers from payment machines have forced a $4m system upgrade to be fast-tracked.

A young father was stabbed with a steak knife and bitten after he confronted two burglars - both young women - in an incident police say could easily have ended in tragedy.

Six-times Thai kick-boxing world champion Jason Suttie has failed to keep his name suppressed on aggravated robbery and blackmail charges.

A furious 60-year-old woman and quick-thinking police combined to catch burglars who were raiding her home.

The victim of an alleged hit and run aggravated robbery was left lying on the side of the road with his pleas for help ignored by passing motorists.

A young dancing champ has been robbed of his shoes and lucky charms after thieves targeted his family's car.