KEY POINTS:
He's an unlikely Lothario, weighing in at a gargantuan 190kg, with a disfiguring skin condition and a criminal record bearing hundreds of convictions.
Yet fraudster Max Heslehurst, 52, managed to convince Suzanne Lester, 46, that he was the man she had been looking for, engaging the lonely solo mum in a whirlwind six-month romance that has left her facing a claim for $500,000.
Lester was beguiled by his stories of multimillion-dollar investments and a $7.5 million Lotto win, and illegally gained millions he claimed to be hiding from police, according to papers filed with the High Court at Auckland.
"I have done an incredibly naive thing," Lester wrote to the court, describing the love affair which began on the internet and may now see her lose her home. "It is my only asset in the world. It is the only house I have ever bought."
It's not the first time Heslehurst has allegedly used a solo mum's search for love to his advantage. He faces charges brought by the Ministry of Economic Development's National Enforcement Unit for running a company which is registered in the name of a former lover, Lesley Ray, whom he met on a telephone chat line.
The unit alleges Heslehurst - also known as "Mad Max" and "Fat Max" - was behind Broomstick Collections, a debt collecting agency, even though he is barred from any company management until next year after being convicted on 50 fraud charges in 2003. Heslehurst has over 100 convictions in total, most of them for fraud.
At the time of his conviction, he told the judge that he was a changed man, even though a court probation report described him as a "conman and a confidence trickster". He said Ray had "given him a conscience".
Lester, who is being sued for deals arranged by Heslehurst, says if he found a conscience, it seems to have vanished again.
The pair met online almost a year ago, and traded telephone numbers. After a month of chatting, they met at Lester's New Lynn home, where the conman told her he "was looking for someone to spend his life with".
Lester became charmed by Heslehurst. "He was funny and gregarious. He made me laugh. I liked that. It was not something I had experienced in a very, very long time." He wanted to move in but she asked him to wait, not wanting to cause turmoil in her 7-year-old daughter's life by moving too fast.
Two months later, the stories started - just two months after meeting, Heslehurst asked to move in again, saying he had nowhere to live after selling his Glenfield home to the Salvation Army for $430,000. It seems likely the sale was actually that of his former partner Ray, who sold her home to cover Heslehurst's debts.
Lester agreed, but only on a short-term basis. Then he said he was selling "his business", Broomstick Collections, for $6.5 million and receiving the money in instalments - even though the company and its shares were not registered in his name. He also claimed to have $6 million stashed away in trust accounts - money he claimed the police were after but for which the time limit for prosecution was running out.
It seemed convincing - Heslehurst carried a thick wad of $100 notes - and her impression of a savvy high-flyer appeared confirmed when Heslehurst took her to the Karaka horse sales, where he met Club Finance director and part-owner Philip Markwick.
Markwick told the Herald on Sunday that Heslehurst had arranged the meeting as a go-between for the finance company and a Philippine brewery millionaire, Eduardo Congalis, who had $50 million to invest. Heslehurst had been working for him as a debt collector, repossessing cars, although he has now been told he is banned from the company and its premises.
Although Congalis - if he exists - never showed, Lester says she was impressed Heslehurst knew Markwick and the brewer. "This, with the wads of cash, made him seem quite legitimate to me." The source of the cash seems to be a classic Heslehurst scam. At the sales, the three also met Graeme Rogerson, a bloodstock manager. Murray Gregory, racing manager at Rogerson Bloodstock, later gave Heslehurst $12,000 to buy two cars - an Audi and a Mercedes. The money vanished and the cars never emerged.
Heslehurst has previously told the court he takes money with no intention of delivering the goods promised.
But at the time, he seemed convincing and charming. Rogerson, interested in Heslehurst's talk of buying bloodstock, invited the couple to breakfast at a horse stud the following weekend.
Lester says they met a large group of people, including some who would later claim to have also paid Heslehurst money for cars that were never delivered. "Meeting all these people through Max made me feel more confident about him."
According to the court documents, Heslehurst then went on a house-buying spree. It was this that would later land Lester in court.
"Max told me he had won Lotto in early February 2007." He also told her friends and paid for one elderly neighbour to have her home painted for $2000, and for painting a building at another friend's home. "He said he wanted to do something nice for them." He took Lester to Kumeu to look at houses, putting in offers on a $1 million home and a $3 million home.
When it came time to sign, the conman told Lester he needed to create a new company to claim the GST back on the houses, and asked her to sign the agreements as his "nominee".
"The only reason I signed the agreement was because I thought my name was only on there until Max set up his own company.
" There was no way I could ever pay the deposit of $300,000, let alone $2.95 million for the property. I trusted Max. He told me he had won Lotto."
Shortly after signing the agreements, Heslehurst left, saying he was going to Australia and that his Philippine brewer friend had arranged a diplomatic passport to ease his way.
Then, as the date for the deposits drew near, it all came crashing down.
According to Lester's affidavit to the court, one of Heslehurst's children rang her, warning of his "delusion" and that he was a con artist. Demands began coming in for the deposits on the properties - about 10 per cent of the $5m value of the homes.
She rang Barfoot & Thompson estate agent Natalie Tanner to ask if the agreements could be changed into Heslehurst's name and was told "it's too late".
Tanner told the Herald on Sunday it became apparent that Heslehurst wasn't going to go through with the deals. "He was very clever getting her to go nominee. He's done a runner." In court, Lester asked Enigma Investments, owned by lawyer Warwick Ayres on behalf of Tony Phillips, managing director of CityWide Capital, not to pursue her over failure to buy the $3m house to drop its claim.
"I beg you not to proceed with your claim against me. The only asset in the world I have is my house - a home to my daughter and I.
"I cannot begin to contemplate what would happen to my daughter and I if I was to lose my home."
