A man who bluffed his way out of Manukau District Court on Friday by claiming to be another prisoner on bail remained at large tonight.
Ollies Siaea, 31, had earlier appeared in the court on a charge of kidnapping a 24-year-old Cambodian man on Wednesday night from his Papatoetoe home and holding him for ransom. Siaea was remanded in custody.
Police said the other prisoner - to whom Siaea apparently bore a resemblance - had since been charged with helping him escape.
A second person had also been charged.
That person was alleged to have provided assistance to Siaea outside of the court in terms of providing a change of clothes.
Siaea was known to have family in south Auckland and was most likely to approach people he knew, police said.
Those people were warned they would face charges if found to be assisting him.
Siaea was not considered a danger to the public.
The man Siaea was accused of kidnapping was freed after a ransom was paid but the money had been recovered, police said.
