A convicted fraudster and one of New Zealand's most wanted former fugitives allegedly told his wife that he'd once been kidnapped at gunpoint in Hollywood star Russell Crowe's helicopter and feared for his life. Ex-Australian TV presenter Simone Anne Wright aka Williams aka Smith is standing trial for perpetrating a $35,000 online fraud where she allegedly invented a dying child to "engender trust and sympathy". But Wright claims she had nothing to do with the fake trades – and points the finger as former husband Paul James Bennett aka Dennis Kite aka David Kite aka Russell Bennett aka James Lochead. When they met, Bennett allegedly told her to sell her house and car, and that she didn't need to work anymore. Simone Wright claims that her ex-husband Paul Bennett was behind a series of Trade Me frauds.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 17, 2020 02:03 UTC