A manager at a company owned by Kiwi film legend Sir Peter Jackson has been charged with fraud.
Wellington's Eugene John DeMarco, 57, has pleaded not guilty to charges of theft by a person in a special relationship and obtaining by deception.
The charges, according to the Serious Fraud Office, relate to funds paid for the purchase of a replica aircraft and the alleged unauthorised use of an aircraft as security to get a loan.
The case also centres around the sale of three reproduction vintage aircraft to the New Zealand Warbirds Association, which DeMarco allegedy arranged as production manager for The Vintage Aviator.
The Vintage Aviator, the SFO says, is owned by Jackson and manufactures reproductions of First World War-era aircraft.
