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Piers Fuller / Stuff
Eugene DeMarco was said to have unique abilities as a pilot of vintage aircraft. (File photo)
An anonymous notice alerted a home buyer to take a closer look at the condition of a Wellington home being sold by a now convicted con artist.
Eugene DeMarco, 58, a pilot and former manager of filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh’s vintage aircraft company, was found liable in a civil case for misrepresentations made in the sale process.
DeMarco was just days away from being released from a two-year and five-month prison term when the case was heard in September in Superior Court at his 220-square-meter home on Fortification Rd, overlooking Karaka Bay, Wellington. .
In a recent judgment that contained a footnote reference to his sentence, Judge Francis Cooke awarded Norman Hugh Anderson and Rebecca Alice Carrascoa at least $ 132,123.
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DeMarco had kept his deposit of $ 120,000 after they canceled a contract to buy the house for $ 1.2 million in 2018.
After agreeing to buy the house, Anderson did an Internet search for DeMarco’s name and discovered that he had a conviction in the United States for possession of a stolen plane.
This surprised him. That alone did not cause him undue concern, but shortly after the [purchasers’] the attorneys received anonymous information that the property may have leakage problems and that Mr. DeMarco was not an honest person, ”said the judge.
The notice prompted Anderson and Carrasco to hire attorneys and a construction consultant. Investigations revealed reports from previous buildings far less favorable than the one DeMarco offered during the sale process.
Things
Eugene DeMarco was found guilty of fraud at Sir Peter Jackson’s company, The Vintage Aviator. (File photo)
The judge summarized the evidence regarding leakage problems and water damage in the home. DeMarco received advice on his conditions and did some work, but not the work that was said to be necessary to fix the problems permanently.
Buyers took a risk by not getting their own building inspection report, by not asking questions of the man who wrote the report DeMarco offered and by making an unconditional offer, the judge said.
But it was not unreasonable for them to trust the information they were given. The monolithic cladding building type of the 1990s might signal potential problems to some buyers, but not to Anderson and Carrasco.
They had been living in Singapore and although they owned other properties in Wellington through a trust, buying a low maintenance home for their retirement was their first personal purchase, so the trust attorney’s trustee was not involved.
Judge Francis Cooke said the real estate agent used the information provided by DeMarco. (File photo)
The building report that DeMarco offered through the realtor was apparently comprehensive and in very positive terms. A buyer might have understood that there was no need to verify their accuracy, although the sale paperwork indicated that it would be prudent for potential buyers to have their own building inspection report.
The judge cited a previous court decision that said: “… it usually does not sit well with someone who has been guilty of misrepresentation to blame the other person for believing in misrepresentation.”
DeMarco made a number of misrepresentations, including offering a report that he knew contained half-truths, distortions and misrepresentations. He had not told the report writer about previous adverse advice or asked him to comment on it.
The position DeMarco represented was very different from the real one, the judge said.
Things
Eugene (Gene) DeMarco has pleaded not guilty to theft and fraud involving his former employer, Sir Peter Jackson’s company, The Vintage Aviator Ltd. A jury found him guilty on all six counts.
Anderson and Carrasco had claimed $ 171,000. The judge awarded them at least $ 132,123, but that could increase when legal costs are considered.
DeMarco has since privately sold the three- or four-bedroom home for $ 1.1 million to people he knew.
One of the crimes for which he was imprisoned involved cheating a bank when it refinanced his mortgage loan.
Another allegedly left Jackson and Walsh’s Vintage Aviator company with a deficit of $ 645,000, although DeMarco’s attorney questioned it at the judgment and said the loss could be $ 220,000, or perhaps nothing.
