Aaron Drever appears at Auckland District Court for sentencing. Photo / Michael Craig
Aaron Drever appears at Auckland District Court for sentencing. Photo / Michael Craig
A disgraced real estate agent has been jailed for stealing more than $100,000 from Auckland Speedway and pocketing nearly $500,000 in a cunning property deal involving Avondale Bowling Club land.
Aaron Carl Drever has pleaded guilty to a raft of dishonesty and forgery charges in Auckland District Court. He's had suppression since early 2020 but can finally be named today.
The 39-year-old appeared for sentencing this morning before Judge Barney Thomas, who convicted him on the charges and ordered him to serve two years and two months.
Aaron Drever appears at Auckland District Court for sentencing. Photo / Michael Craig
"The effects of those losses are extremely real for those people you stole from," the judge said.
Drever, once one of the country's most successful and high-profile agents, was struck off in 2016 after notching up a record 12 adverse disciplinary findings, including professional misconduct.
In November of that year, he was approached by Avondale Bowling Club for advice on selling a 1600sq m parcel of land.
Days later Drever announced he had found a buyer and prepared a sale and purchase agreement with a sale price of $330,000.
The vendor was Avondale Bowling Club Incorporated.
A summary of facts shows Drever secretly set up a company called Avondale Bowling Club Limited to buy the land under the name of his aunt Beverley Ellen Spain.
He then prepared a second sale and purchase agreement between Spain's company Avondale Bowling Club Limited and 88 Cents Limited, a company owned by property developer Jonathan Michell.
Former real estate agent Aaron Drever at his Grocer's Market store in Mt Eden before the business was liquidated. Photo / NZME
The purchase price was $825,000 - an instant mark-up of nearly $500,000.
Both sales settled contemporaneously on December 6, 2016.
Drever was later charged with obtaining by deception, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years' jail.
He admitted failing to disclose his financial interest in the deal, his relationship with Spain or that he knew the property was worth far more than the initial purchase price.
The second lot of charges related to offending at Auckland Speedway in 2019 involving complainant companies Springs Promotions Limited and Speedway Racing Limited.
Both companies are owned by Bill Buckley who ran speedway meetings at Western Springs Stadium.
A summary of facts says Drever is a speedway enthusiast and long-time family friend of Buckley.
Former Western Springs Speedway promoter Bill Buckley offered Aaron Drever a job but would soon live to regret it. Photo / Michael Craig
In September 2019, Drever offered to volunteer for Springs Promotions Limited to assist in preparation for the upcoming speedway season.
Between October 8 and December 13 of that year, Drever created 10 false invoices under the name Billboard Solutions, a legitimate company which provided advertising billboards.
He included a false GST number and made the invoice payable to an ANZ account belonging to a fast food business he was linked to.
Drever then presented the fictitious invoices - totalling $86,247.99 - to Buckley to sign off for payment.
Between October 8 and October 14, Drever created two further false invoices under the name Toy & Model Collectors Market Ltd, which is not a legitimate company.
The invoices totalled $15,742.93 and purported to be for purchasing model cars.
The money was paid into an ANZ account belonging to a rich Australian businessman "of which the defendant has an interest in".
The total loss to Buckley's companies was $101,990.92.
Drever's lawyer Ron Mansfield said his client had been diagnosed with ADHD which a psychological report confirmed was a "contributing factor" to his offending.
Mansfield said Drever had taken part in a restorative justice process with his two victims, acknowledged his wrongdoing and expressed remorse.
He had begun receiving psychological treatment as part of his rehabilitation and offered to pay his victims reparation at $500 per week. So far he had made only one payment.
Mansfield said it was important for Drever to continue with his rehabilitation programme to avoid obtaining money for his own advantage in the future.
"There is more than a glimmer of hope that this man is able to be a proactive member of the community where he adds benefit rather than depriving people of funds."
In January last year at a sentencing indication hearing, Judge Thomas indicated Drever would face two years and five months behind bars if he pleaded guilty.
Mansfield asked the judge today to impose a sentence of less than two years so Drever could apply for home detention.
However, the judge said Drever could not escape prison for what he'd done.
He offered a slight discount for taking part in the restorative justice process and ordered Drever to begin making reparation payments of $300 a week following his release for a period of five years.
If paid, the reparation would total $25,000 for Auckland Speedway and $50,000 for Avondale Bowling Club,
