A blackmailing fraudster is fighting to keep her name suppressed after being jailed along with her former lover earlier this week.
The 35-year-old woman was jailed on Thursday for four years for her part in a fraud that resulted in her former lover's family losing their home and the man's wife's retirement fund being cleaned out.
The woman's counsel, Judith Ablett-Kerr QC, confirmed an appeal was filed with the Court of Appeal yesterday afternoon after the woman's bid for name suppression was rejected by Judge Michael Crosbie in the Dunedin District Court on Thursday.
The woman and the 52-year-old man were jointly charged on seven counts of fraudulently using a document.
He was also charged on two further counts of forgery and she was charged with blackmail.
She had blackmailed the man, threatening to tell his family of the affair, for more than $430,000 over almost a decade.
The pair met online in 2005. She travelled to Dunedin and they began a sexual relationship.
Upon learning of his marital status, she began blackmailing him.
Judge Crosbie said he wished for all the details of the case to be public, but a previous suppression order prevented the man's name from being published and Mrs Ablett-Kerr sought interim name suppression for her client so an appeal against the decision could be lodged.
That suppression lapsed at 4pm yesterday but an appeal was filed at 1pm.
The pair both played a part in defrauding seven insurance companies of more than $300,000 to meet the woman's blackmail demands.
The man also forged his wife's signature to extend their mortgage and pillage her retirement savings.
Crown solicitor Robin Bates indicated on Thursday he intended to fight to have the man's name suppression quashed.
The Otago Daily Times understands the appeal for the woman's name suppression is still being processed and the outcome will not be known until next week.
If accepted, the appeal could take months to resolve and name suppression could remain in place until early next year.
The man's wife told the court the offending had come at the cost of her family's financial security - ''27 years of careful saving'' - and the family home.
''I can't get my head around the evil that has been done to this family,'' she said.
''There can be no forgetting and no forgiveness.''
