PHOTO: ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Fraudster Malcolm David Shearer, 64, says he can be a little unreliable, but he’s a “very giving” person
Conman Malcolm Shearer offered $2.6 million for a palatial rural mansion while people chased him for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Blair Ensor reports.
It’s a property most people in New Zealand can only dream of buying.
The palatial mansion, set on 4 hectares of rural land on the fringe of Christchurch, has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, marble flooring and an indoor swimming pool. It looks out over a lake and a tightly cropped lawn not dissimilar to a golf course fairway.
There was plenty of interest in the “private oasis”, which had a 2016 rateable value of nearly $3 million, when it was listed in August last year.
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It was to be sold at auction the following month.
The owners were caught a little off guard when smooth talking entrepreneur Malcolm Shearer made an unconditional $2.65 million offer that they couldn’t refuse.
The property was pulled from the market and sold stickers appeared on roadside placards.
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