Sydney, Sep 15 (IANS): A New Zealand court on Tuesday sentenced an Indian-origin serial fraudster to six years in jail for duping over 20 people, including his own mother, of more than $2 million, media reported.

The High Court at Auckland found Sanjay Kumar Joshi, 33, gulity of 27 charges relating to dishonesty, stuff.co.nz reported.

Joshi used his knowledge of the automotive industry, which he joined for some time after studying marketing and accounting at the Auckland University, to commit a range of frauds against people close to him.

The charges brought against him ranged from obtaining money by deception to using forged documents to obtain finance.

Joshi's business partner Aaron Young was worst hit, losing out on nearly $1 million. He also used her mother's credit card to gain over $9,000.

"You even stole from your mother", Justice Murray Gilbert said.

He also forged documents to obtain over $81,000 from a finance company and $50,000 from various suppliers in the automotive industry through deception.

In his ruling, the judge said that although Joshi had pleaded guilty he had done so at a later stage and also tried to reverse his guilty pleas prior to sentencing.

The court also observed that the man was not willing to take full responsibility for his actions through his continued attempts to minimise the extent of his offending.

Joshi had "callously targeted" his victims and exploited their trust for his own gain, the judge added.