‘The Phantom’ fraudster declined parole again

A convicted fraudster who duped notable New Zealanders out of millions of dollars has been declined parole for a second time.

In a reserved decision released last week, the Parole Board said it concluded Australian/Greek citizen Loizos Michaels, who is serving eight years in prison on 30 counts of fraud or deception, was still a risk to the community.

Michaels – who referred to himself as ‘‘The Phantom’’ – was jailed in 2012 for fraud that saw his victims handing over more than $3.2 million. He had earlier appeared in Australian courts several times on dishonesty charges.

He duped notable New Zealanders, including All Black great Jonah Lomu.

Lomu was tricked into months of publicity work after Michaels presented him with a business proposal to become ‘‘the global face of kickboxing’’.

Michaels is subject to a removal order and will be deported to Australia when he is released from prison, whether on his sentence end date, or on parole.

The board said Michaels had certain personality and character qualities which he needed to recognise and manage his own risk.

‘‘Despite what he says, Mr Michaels does not truly understand his risk factors, and does not have a sufficiently robust safety and release plan,’’ the board said.

‘‘He does not see his risks and further work is needed to enable him to appreciate what they are.’’

The sentence end date for Michaels is February 2019.

He will be seen again by the Parole Board in March 2018.