An alleged ‘Phantom’ conman, who was charged with scamming the rich and famous – including former All Black Jonah Lomu – is due to appear in Auckland District Court today.
Greek Loizos Michaels, 44, will face 140 charges involving $3 million which he allegedly committed in 2007 and 2008.
The Auckland restaurant owner was escorted back to New Zealand by police yesterday after exhausting his legal avenues to fight his extradition from Australia.
Michaels, who refers to himself as the Phantom, skipped bail in July last year after telling authorities he needed to visit his sick mother in Melbourne. Michaels was held in a Gold Coast jail after being arrested in February by the Australian Federal Police.
He lost his appeal against an extradition order to New Zealand in June after arguing he would not receive a far trial as high profile people were involved.
Michaels allegedly promised to make Lomu “the global face of kick boxing”, and allegedly persuaded Christchurch casino executives to invest in a million-dollar fake casino business.
In another scheme, Michaels set up a make-believe business to purchase a motel in Rotorua, asking investors for advance fee payments of $353,025.
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