Special investigation
A fraudster and sex offender with two dozen aliases duped a property manager and then converted a rental property into a backpackers hosting up to 28 people.
Bernhardt Bentinck, 41, also known as Wayne Eaglesome, took over the five-bedroom home in Avonside, Christchurch, last week and packed it with customers paying up to $125 a week.
The Press has also linked Bentinck to a home on Auburn Ave, Riccarton, where he appears to be running a similar operation. The owner said he was aware of Bentinck’s history and declined to comment further.
The owner of the Avonside house, Jo Morgan, said Bentinck claimed he wanted to rent her Banks Ave house for his family and he was earning nearly $170,000 a year.
Bentinck’s lucrative operation was scuttled this week when Morgan was alerted to goings on at the property by neighbours.
The conman is now being investigated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) after The Press discovered he had set up a company despite being a disqualified director due to his criminal offending.
Bentinck used his tourism-related company, Ugly House Services Ltd, in his application to rent the Avonside home for two years through property management company Champagne Homes Ltd.
Ugly House Services was placed into liquidation on July 6. It owes $161,000 to trade creditors and 50 mobile phones are missing, the liquidator’s first report, released on Thursday, says.
After moving into the Avonside rental property, Bentinck installed bunks and put more than a dozen mattresses on the floor. He advertised for guests through social media, charging up to $125 a week.
Morgan said she thought she was renting her house to Bentinck, his partner and their children. He told her property manager he was a law researcher and traffic management consultant earning nearly $170,000 a year. A referee check raised no red flags.
Alarm bells began ringing when a neighbour contacted Morgan earlier this week about the number of people coming and going from the property.
Morgan was shocked to find about 15 people in the house when Bentinck’s lease was for a maximum of five people.
‘‘It was an absolute tip . . . It looked like a doss house. There was rubbish, mattresses and belongings everywhere.’’
After hearing about Bentinck’s history she said: ‘‘I’m not going to be a victim, this person is not going to be in my house. He has conned us to get into this property and I’m not having it.’’
Bentinck has a long criminal history, including fraud, and has been jailed in New Zealand and the United States. The Press has previously revealed he served a jail sentence for serious sexual offending against two men, one of whom was a backpacker.
On Wednesday, Morgan’s Avonside home was still a hive of activity.
Twenty pairs of shoes and a chicken greeted visitors. Inside about 15 backpackers, some asleep in their beds, others making breakfast, still occupied the property. About 20 mattresses were spread throughout the home. One room had two sets of bunks, apparently built by Bentinck in the garage.
One of the backpackers, Hendrik Adden, said he paid $125 a week to sleep on one of the mattresses. He often returned from work to have a shower to find the water was cold.
About 15 people lived at the house during the week but numbers rose to 28 at the weekends, he said . His fellow backpackers included several stop/go workers and a relief nurse.
He described Bentinck as ‘‘controlling’’ and claimed Bentinck would tell the backpackers to lie on their CVs so they could get jobs.