NZ’s accidental millionaires had baby on the run

New Zealand's infamous accidental millionaires, who skipped the country with millions after a bank blunder, had a baby on the run, it has been revealed.

Kara Hurring, 32, had a baby boy in Hong Kong with boyfriend Leo Gao after they left in April 2009 after a bank mistakenly transferred 10 million New Zealand dollars ($8.2 million) into their account.

Westpac Bank had intended to increase the limit on the couple's bank overdraft to $NZ100,000 but a decimal point slip-up gave them 100 times more, Australian Associated Press reports.

The pair allegedly funneled $NZ 6.78 million ($5.62 million) into other accounts and left for Hong Kong before the bank realized its error.

Hurring appeared in a New Zealand court on Wednesday and faced several serious theft charges, including international money laundering, the New Zealand Herald reports.

She appeared before the Rotorua District Court facing two charges of international money laundering relating to activities in Macau and a further 26 charges of theft.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper said the new charges – most previous charges were dropped – were still considered serious, and now included an international element.

Gao remains at large.

Hurring was arrested after she returned to New Zealand last December when she had an issue with her passport.

New Zealand's TV3 reported the baby boy was born in Hong Kong but Hurring took him back to New Zealand after her passport was frozen and she had to apply for a special travel document to come back. She was arrested at the airport upon arrival in December, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Leena, her seven-year-old daughter to another man, remains in Hong Kong, her lawyer Simon Lance said.

"This case has been treated seriously by police since the beginning," Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper said.