High-profile prisoner Phillip John Smith is back in court, accused of committing nearly $120,000 worth of fraud. 

Smith, 45, faces 30 fraud-related charges in the Wellington District Court, with the offending spanning parts of 2019 and 2020, charging documents show. 

The charges include dishonestly using an application for a small business cashflow loan, GST returns and income tax return documents to obtain a pecuniary advantage. 

The amounts allegedly obtained total $119,104.31. 

The Inland Revenue Department has accused him of using applications and documents in the name of multiple companies, including KMG International, NZ Software Consultancy, and ST Exports. 

The maximum penalty the charges carry is seven years' imprisonment. 

The next hearing on the matter will happen in May, when Smith will appear in court by audio visual link for a case review. 

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Phillip John Smith took Corrections to court for depriving him of his toupee. File photo / Dean Purcell 

Since then, Smith has taken Corrections to court multiple times for claimed breaches of his rights, including depriving him of his toupee. 

Smith won that case and was awarded a $3500 government payout by the judge, but his win was later overturned on appeal. 

The hairpiece saga continued with a further appeal, but the Supreme Court ruled he did not have the right to wear the toupee in prison. 

The decision was moot by then, as Corrections had allowed him to start wearing it again. 

- by Melissa Nightingale, NZ Herald