Mortgage fraudster Eli Devoy loses appeal

Eli Devoy. Photo / NZ Herald

The woman at the centre of a $9.2 million mortgage fraud has lost an appeal against her convictions and sentence, with three judges saying the evidence of her guilt is "overwhelming".

"She has no rational basis for continuing to deny criminal liability," Court of Appeal Justices Rhys Harrison, Murray Gilbert and Sarah Katz said of Eli Devoy in their decision.

Devoy, in her late 40s, was sentenced to five years' jail last year for her role as the ringleader of a fraudulent scheme that involved friends and members of her family.

In the fraud, Devoy and others used false and forged documents to obtain millions of dollars worth loans from banks for 11 Auckland properties.

Devoy attempted to challenge her convictions and sentence when appearing before the Court of Appeal last month on the basis that her trial lawyers allegedly made errors.

However, Justices Harrison, Gilbert and Katz were not convinced and said both trial lawyers acted according to their instructions throughout.

The two lawyers - Mina Wharepouri and Quentin Duff - both "discharged their obligations as Ms Devoy's trial counsel with considerable skill and care in demanding circumstances".

The Court of Appeal also said the trial judge had considered the evidence in the case in "meticulous detail".

"Ms Devoy was the beneficiary of a very fair and competent judicial evaluation of charges to which she had no credible defence," the Court of Appeal judges said.

"We repeat that the evidence of Ms Devoy's guilt is overwhelming. She has no rational basis for continuing to deny criminal liability. She cannot possibly claim that justice has miscarried in her case," they said when dismissing her appeals against conviction and sentence.