A former Queenstown taxi driver who reported in February he was assaulted and robbed of $700 has been charged with theft and making a false statement.
The 24-year-old man appeared in Manukau District Court today and has been remanded on bail to reappear on Tuesday, 17 June.
The man also faces a charge of causing loss by deception in connection with an unrelated matter.
The charges relates to a report the man made to police that he had been assaulted in Queenstown in the early hours of February 5.
The man reported that he picked up a male passenger in central Queenstown and drove him to the Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park camping ground about 3.15am.
He said he was then attacked and robbed by the passenger and two other men.
Police said today members of the public had been of great help in the case.
Following the release of an audio recording of a call made from the driver's phone to the taxi company about an hour after the incident, members of the public contacted police saying they recognised the caller as a relative of the driver.
"This information, together with a number of consistencies in other information gathered and out-of-character behaviour by the arrested man, has led police to the conclusion that this is a false complaint," Acting Detective Sergeant Matt Jones, of Queenstown, said.
Police say the investigation had tied up a considerable amount of police time and resources.
