Kiwi hip-hop dancer, husband in court over TAB fraud

  • 17/08/2016
Talanoa Raine
Talanoa Raine

A Kiwi husband and wife were in court in Sydney on Wednesday, charged with fraud for cashing in winning TAB tickets that were unclaimed.

The man works for Tabcorp, and is accused of accessing restricted information.

Police allege they pulled off their scam more than 30 times, collecting AU$650,000.

This was the first time Talanoa and Trevor Raine faced court since their arrest for fraud.

Dance teacher Talanoa is charged with cashing the claims, supplied by her husband. The couple is accused of making claims on 31 different occasions between June 2013 and July this year.

They allegedly made their biggest windfall on one day last February, cashing in 268 tickets, worth more than AU$63,000.

While the Organised Crime Squad was investigating the transactions, the pair bought a Constitution Hill home for AU$760,000.

The pair are well known in Australia and in New Zealand for running hip-hop dance competition "Bring It On" for high school students.

The couple was granted bail on Wednesday on condition they report to police daily, surrender their passports and don't enter any TAB premises.

While the case has only just reached the court, Trevor Raine has already been sacked by the betting agency.

The case will return to court next month.

Channel 7