Former fugitive Paul Bennett has today pleaded not guilty to indecency, theft, and $500,000 fraud charges. This morning, 53-year-old Bennett pleaded not guilty to all charges and chose to be tried in a judge alone trial. Police launched Operation Kite in 2014 to investigate a string of fraud allegations with Bennett a person of interest in a fraud investigation. Bennett and Wright were arrested in February last year as they sailed into Sydney Harbour from Northland on board a crippled yacht. Many of the charges allege that he used documents dishonestly and without claim of right to obtains hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 26, 2016 23:28 UTC