'He's the best con artist NZ has ever seen'

Loizos Michaels likes to call himself The Phantom. Photo / NZ Herald

It could have been a scene from The Sopranos.

A late-model BMW with the licence plate "Dadu" - Greek for Daddy - pulled over in Ponsonby Rd and parked outside a recently opened restaurant.

On cue, Loizos Michaels, well dressed in a dark suit, sunglasses and gold jewellery, emerged to do business at Plato's Greek Taverna.

Of Greek descent from Melbourne, 43-year-old Michaels owned the restaurant and ate and drank for free every day with his entourage.

On any given day, the colourful cast of characters could include minder Adam Riley, the Hells Angels sergeant-at-arms, or righthand man Steve Catsicas, a bankrupt property developer.

Even rugby superstar Jonah Lomu was a regular at Plato's, as the face of a global kickboxing tournament Michaels promised to bankroll.

Former Cabinet minister John Tamihere also enjoyed the hospitality of Michaels, in talks about a bold takeover bid for SkyCity Casino.

But soon, other people began turning up at Plato's for an audience with Michaels.

Tradesmen and suppliers became sick of his excuses for unpaid work, as did restaurant staff.

Gradually, his grandiose plans fell over, leaving a trail of angry and embarrassed victims in his wake.

"He is the best con artist New Zealand has ever seen," said one associate, who asked not to be named.

"How else could he convince some very smart people, some of them leaders in their field, to drop everything and give him millions of dollars?"

Michaels persuaded two casino executives to invest more than $2.8 million in his make-believe takeover, and used Lomu's name to get more than $350,000 from a couple as "security" on a Taupo luxury apartment sale which never went through.

Eventually, private investigators hired by Auckland businessman Peter Goodfellow, president of the National Party, called in the Serious Fraud Office, which later laid charges over the alleged scam.

It said Michaels committed fraud that carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

But the case may never get to court.

Michaels, who told a judge that he needed his passport back to visit his sick mother in Australia, skipped the country and left a trail of debts behind.

The SFO has plans to extradite him from Australia, where he is suspected of a similar $600,000 scam in Melbourne, but the chances of finding him again look remote.