Aaron Coupe appears at Auckland District Court on Friday for sentencing. Photo / John Weekes
A con artist property developer once dubbed a “glib huckster” ruined multiple lives with deceit and shoddy workmanship, a court heard today.
Aaron Peter Coupe appeared in the dock at Auckland District Court wearing a prison-issue grey jersey with two security guards flanking him.
Victims addressed the court, and Coupe directly, outlining betrayals from a man who promoted himself as a property developer.
“Aaron, you took our money. And funnily enough, we want it back,” one of the victims said as she stood up in court and faced Coupe.
Of some victims, she said: “You financially disemboweled them... You lied repeatedly and we believed you over and over.
“We were trapped in the web you created for far too long.”
Another victim, addressing the court by audiovisual link, said Coupe ruined her retirement and destroyed her family’s financial wellbeing.
“You have left us to survive through tremendous personal misery and difficulty.”
She told the court her family paid $184,000 in advance.
“You manipulated us into paying ahead and misappropriated that money. Our house has deteriorated before our very eyes.”
She said Coupe dug multiple holes on her property.
“These have been caving in over the past two and a half years.”
She added: “You submitted a set of plans we had not signed up on.”
Now she was stressed, had to retrain instead of retire and was one pay cheque away from financial ruin, the court heard.
“We have no home to put our belongings into.
“We stuck up for you when others were making claims that you were deceiving us,” she said.
“You’re a highly skilled con man and the public needs to be protected from you. You have ruined our lives and our retirement.”
Another victim said he paid $1.7 million for building work that was incomplete.
“I have had to face angry contractors at my workplace…others simply desperate to be paid.”
The court heard Coupe’s offending reverberated out to tradespeople and others linked to the victims.
“I feel betrayed, misled and burdened with the consequences of someone else’s negligence.”
Another man, with a property in central Auckland’s Galatos St, said Coupe approached him to do work in 2021.
He now regretted ever dealing with Coupe, who allowed insurance to lapse without notifying him.
“I became aware too late that this was a pattern of breaches.”
The Galatos St victim said Coupe contrived to get money for other projects.
“Mr Coupe is a narcissist. He has only concern for himself. I understand that he was apprehended while on a skiing holiday.
“We all regret having ever had any involvement with Coupe.”
Then a plumber, Michael Mullany, told the court his company carried out work at Galatos St and another property worth $34,850 and $60,000 respectively.
He said Coupe owed him more than $80,000 and his business was now in permanent overdraft after Coupe failed to pay.
Mullany said Coupe’s nefarious dealings caused him to be struck off as a plumber.
Prosecutor Dennis Dow said Coupe was responsible for some of the worst bankruptcy offending the court had seen.
“He made the choice in a very cynical calculated way to commit this offending through an alias to avoid detection while he was before the court for almost identical offending.”
Judge Kathryn Maxwell asked why Coupe at one point had name suppression.
The court heard the defence cited fair trial rights and a co-offender having name suppression as well as mental health concerns.
Coupe had previous Insolvency Act offending.
Dow said Coupe at one point learned authorities were scrutinising one of his bank accounts.
Within hours, perhaps minutes, he moved more than $400,000 into an account in a bid to evade authorities.
Coupe’s construction work was of breathtakingly bad quality and required huge repair costs, Dow said.
And Coupe offended while on bail and only stopped when finally remanded in custody.
Defence counsel Kathleen McEntee said, on behalf of Coupe, she acknowledged the victims.
She said any sentence imposed on Coupe should not be “crushing”.
The court heard Coupe had pleaded guilty to the relevant charges, which spared the community from a trial.
“We’re also dealing with a maximum penalty that is arguably inadequate,” Judge Maxwell said.
She said Coupe was charged with managing a business while an adjudicated bankrupt and two charges of concealing property.
One concealed amount was worth $1.54m and another $179,000.
He was made bankrupt in March 2022 with notified claims of about $6.5m, Judge Maxwell said.
Coupe operated residential and commercial redevelopment projects.
One was a residential project in Tuakau, another was for two businesses in Wiri, and another was the commercial project at Galatos St.
The Tuakau property was “on piles and uninhabitable”, Judge Maxwell said,
“You directed payment for these projects into your mother’s account,” the judge said.
Coupe made deliberate attempts to conceal money from the office of the Official Assignee, which administers all bankruptcies.
“But the funds were also used for personal expenses.”
Judge Maxwell said Coupe was banned from managing a business at the time of the relevant offending.
Today was not Coupe’s first in court. He had prior convictions for managing companies while bankrupt.
In March, he was jailed for four years and five months after breaching a business ban and causing $8m in losses.
Then, Judge Nevin Dawson told Coupe: “It is apparent that you are a very glib huckster, very talented at taking in people with all your tales about over-ambitious projects.”
Judge Maxwell today told Coupe: “Your arrogance is incomprehensible.”
She reached a starting point of four years’ imprisonment for today’s sentencing.
The only mitigating factors were Coupe’s guilty pleas, the judge said.
She said Coupe showed no empathy and he’d get no discount for remorse.
His prior offending was an aggravating factor.
“You have barely taken a breath since you started offending in 2013.”
Judge Maxwell sentenced him to three years and nine months’ imprisonment and the new jail sentence would be added to the one he received in March.
That meant Coupe would spend eight years and two months in jail.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation and court. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and court.