Asian couple accused of Kiwi bank loan blunder have split

Wellington, May 26 (ANI): The brazen Kiwi couple who are at the centre of an embarrassing multimillion-dollar bank loan blunder appear to have parted ways in Asia, New Zealand police said Tuesday.

Leo Gao, 29, and his girlfriend Kara Yang, 30, fled New Zealand three weeks ago after New Zealand dollar 10 million was accidentally deposited in Gao's Westpac bank account.

The bank gaffe occurred when a decimal point was omitted from a loan clearance form.

Police have been searching for the couple in Hong Kong but revealed today that the pair was apparently no longer travelling together.

A relative, believed to be Yang's younger sister Aroha Hurring, who returned from Hong Kong on Monday, told police it was not known where Gao was.

Westpac clawed back most of the money but Gao still has access to 3.8 million New Zealand dollars.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted police as saying the couple were unlikely to be charged with theft as they had not physically handled the money involved, but they could face charges relating to using a computer to access the money.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph has come out with the first photo of 30-year-old Kara Yang, her partner Leo Gao, 29, and daughter Leena, who are believed living the high-life in Asia after their extraordinary windfall.

Brief communications with friends and relatives on Facebook have revealed that Kara has boasted of drinking Chinese beer and enjoying the heat of Asia away from the New Zealand winter as authorities try to track them down.

Ironically, friends of Gao, a Korean national, have told the London Times that he dreamed of being a successful businessman - although his past form suggested otherwise - and his main aim in life was to get rich.

With the money in the bank, the couple told friends and Leena's school they were going on holiday but instead withdrew 3.8 million dollars and left New Zealand.

Their car was found abandoned at Auckland airport and the police believe they have fled to China. Interpol and NZ police are focussing their search on Beijing and on Hong Kong. (ANI)