False Jonah Lomu claimant: I won't get a fair trial in NZ

Loizos Michaels fled NZ while facing $3 million fraud charges. Photo / Brett Phibbs

An alleged conman, who used Jonah Lomu's name in a $3m fraud, is fighting extradition to New Zealand, saying he won't get a fair trial.

Loizos Michaels - who calls himself the Phantom - is being held in a Gold Coast jail after being arrested by the Australian Federal Police, who are co-operating with New Zealand authorities.

The 44-year-old Ponsonby restaurant owner, accused of ripping off the rich and famous, is contesting an extradition order for him to be brought back to New Zealand next Wednesday, his lawyer Jim Coburn said.

"He doesn't feel he'll get a fair trial in New Zealand because of some of the noteworthy people who are involved," he said.

"From what he tells me, he seems to have upset a few influential people."

The Herald revealed Michaels was charged by the Serious Fraud Office in February 2010 after allegedly using the name of Jonah Lomu in a $3 million fraud.

But he skipped the country before going to trial.

He was released on bail and persuaded an Auckland District Court judge to return his passport so he could visit his sick mother in Melbourne, despite protests from the Crown that he was a flight risk.

Michaels did not return but was arrested in Australia in February.

The SFO says he persuaded two casino executives to invest more than $2.8 million in a make-believe takeover of SkyCity casino, and used Lomu's name to get more than $350,000 from a couple as "security" on a Taupo luxury apartment sale which never went through.

Court documents show the two complainants in the case are former Christchurch Casino executives Stephen Lyttelton and Peter Arbuckle, who left the casino in 2007 to pursue what the SFO says were fictitious business opportunities with Michaels.

He is charged with obtaining $1,782,760 from Mr Arbuckle and $1,054,000 from Mr Lyttelton after telling the pair he worked for a leading Macau casino empire, Melco.

Eventually, private investigators hired by Richlister and National Party president Peter Goodfellow - a friend of Mr Lyttelton - called in the SFO.

Lomu, who was not part of the SFO investigation, said he was duped by a proposal from Michaels to become "the global face of kickboxing" but was never paid.

"I trusted him. I gave him a chance. He crapped on me," Lomu told the Herald.

Michaels made a brief appearance in Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday to try to halt the extradition.

In February, Australian media reported police in Victoria were also interested in speaking to Michaels about allegations he defrauded Victorian investors of millions of dollars.