DeMarco borrowed the money to buy shares in a company that owned two prized World War II fighter planes. But the Jackson trust was not repaid and, by 2016, with interest the debt had swollen to $1.1 million. To try to repay the loan, DeMarco diverted to his own company more than $2m from an Auckland aviation charity that was to buy three planes from The Vintage Aviator. He negotiated the sale of the three planes, but at a price inflated by a “secret commission” of $621,000. Piers Fuller/Stuff Eugene DeMarco was a production manager for The Vintage Aviator Ltd. (File photo)