DeMarco appeals fraud convictions
The man who for years was in charge of building and flying film-maker Peter Jackson’s vintage aircraft, is appealing against his convictions and jail term for fraud and theft.
United States-born Eugene (Gene) DeMarco, 57, was production manager and head pilot for The Vintage Aviator, a company of film-makers Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh.
The company has a factory in Wellington and a hangar at Hood Aerodrome in Masterton for restoring and building replica World War I aircraft.
After a three-week trial at the High Court in Wellington, DeMarco was sentenced to two years and five months’ jail on charges including frauds against The Vintage Aviator.
The Court of Appeal has confirmed DeMarco has filed an appeal against his convictions and sentence. No date has been set for the hearing.
The court heard he had almost unique skills in working with vintage planes but the convictions would make it difficult for him to continue flying or to travel to take up work in a very specialist field.
DeMarco was described as the most experienced Sopwith pilot in history.
The Crown said DeMarco had diverted more than $2 million from an Aucklandbased aviation charity, New Zealand Warbirds Association, to pay for The Vintage
Aviator planes. Warbirds received one plane, and eventually the balance of the money it had paid, but Jackson’s company was out of pocket $645,000.
Other charges related to obtaining a $250,000 loan from BNZ by deception, and failing to deal with a valuable World War II aircraft as required by the friend who said that he bought it off DeMarco for US$500,000.
DeMarco had been earning $179,000 in 2017, his last year with the company.
But he had borrowed just over $600,000 from his employers in 2011 and with interest, and without payments, the debt had grown to more than $1m by 2016.
He said the company owed him at least $300,000 for aircraft parts he supplied, unpaid commission, and unpaid test flight allowances.
However, Jackson and Walsh did not necessarily agree about the $300,000, and would not sign off the commission and test flight payments negotiated with the company chief executive officer.
As well as the criminal charges against DeMarco, he also faces civil action from The Vintage Aviator.
The former friend who paid DeMarco US$500,000 for a plane has also taken action to have the deal officially recorded.