Alleged runaway conman appears in court

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IN COURT: David Carroll was wanted in relation to unpaid motel bills, a missing laptop and fraud.

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An alleged conman who “spins great stories” and was on the run from police for nearly a year has appeared in court on a number of fraud and theft charges.

David Nepia Carroll appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday on numerous charges, including dishonestly taking a $90,000 Audi Q5, failing to pay for accommodation and using various bank cards which did not belong to him.

It’s not known how much money Carroll is alleged to have taken.

Last November police were hunting Carroll while they investigated a host of unsolved cases, including unpaid motel bills, a missing laptop and more substantial cases of fraud in Auckland and Northland.

Ruakaka constable Mark Stuart said Carroll was arrested on August 10 after being spotted by the son of a woman he allegedly defrauded in the Herne Bay Local Bar.

The woman, Julie Woodhouse who owns Black Sands Lodge at Piha, said she grew suspicious of Carroll after he failed to turn up at the lodge after she hired the main suite to him in May.

She then claimed to have found somebody else's credit card cut up in the room's rubbish bin along with receipts.

Woodhouse traced the owner of the credit card and notified police.

It’s believed more charges will be laid against Carroll when he reappears in court on October 22.

- © Fairfax NZ News