The two former wives of a man who faked his own death, sparking a $1 million insurance payout, want nothing to do with him as he caused "so much pain".The man, who cannot be named because of strict suppression orders, yesterday in the Christchurch District Court admitted three charges of dishonestly using documents and two of false pretences.
The man disappeared in 2002 from Port Waikato, south of Auckland, and was presumed dead.
Instead, the father of three children from two marriages had staged his disappearance, assumed another identity and moved to Christchurch.
The man took out an insurance policy worth more than $1m in 2000 that was paid to his second wife after she went to the Auckland High Court to have him declared legally dead.
Sergeant Mark Berryman said the man's two wives were supporting each other because his actions had caused them and their children so much pain.
The women -- one of whom has a teenage daughter and the other who has two primary school-aged sons --"wanted to move on with their lives and wanted nothing more to do with him (their former husband)", Berryman said.
The women's identities, along with any details that could identify the man, how he committed his crimes and large sections of evidence heard by the court yesterday were suppressed at the request of defence counsel Barry Hart.
High Court documents obtained by The Press show the man was being investigated by Inland Revenue and Work and Income for fraud at the time of his disappearance.
The High Court documents, filed by the man's second wife to have him declared legally dead, also revealed he went bankrupt while he owned a business in the central North Island.
The tax agency's fraud investigations relate to allegations he had received tens of thousands of dollars on which he did not pay tax. The High Court documents also contain reference to the man receiving government benefits worth almost $50,000 while working full-time running a business.
In court yesterday, Berryman said the man's car was found abandoned at Port Waikato in 2002.
Police initially believed it was an attempt to fake suicide, but along with the family eventually concluded he had taken his own life.
In 2004, the High Court in Auckland made an order allowing his insurance policy to be paid out in full to his second wife, some of which was put in trust for his three children.
Meanwhile, the man obtained documents under a false name and started work in Christchurch.
Last year he applied for a new passport under his real name, which led to his identification and arrest in January.
His wife was ruled out of the investigation as an innocent party and was not prosecuted, Berryman said.
His second wife said at yesterday's hearing that she had been married to the man for nine years when their relationship broke up in 2002, for reasons which were suppressed. She had two children with the man and was aware he had been married and had another child.
The second wife said she was not aware he had a $1m insurance policy until well after he had taken the policy out.
He also had another policy for $125,000 relating to a mortgage.
After the separation and some initial difficulties, he began to see the children again.
But the custody arrangements started breaking down, the man arriving late to pick the children up, or not at all, his former wife said.
In the following months he disappeared.
The man's former business partner in Christchurch said he had no desire to see the man ever again.
At yesterday's court appearance, police did not oppose bail for the man, who was remanded for sentence to July 11.
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