Prolific conman Wayne Eaglesome is running a Christchurch home as a backpackers, hosting up to 28 people.

A fraudster and sex offender with two dozen aliases duped a property manager and then converted a rental property into a backpackers hosting up to 28 people.

Bernhardt Bentinck, 41, also known as Wayne Eaglesome, took over the five-bedroom home in Avonside, Christchurch, last week and packed it with customers paying up to $125 a week.

Stuff has also linked Bentinck to a home on Auburn Ave, Riccarton, where he appears to be running a similar operation. The owner said he was aware of Bentinck's history and declined to comment further.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF Landlord Jo Morgan inspects one of the five bedrooms at the Banks Ave home.

The owner of the Avonside house, Jo Morgan, said Bentinck claimed he wanted to rent her Banks Ave house for his family and he was earning nearly $170,000 a year.

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Bentinck's lucrative operation was scuttled this week when Morgan was alerted to goings on at the property by neighbours.

STUFF Wayne Eaglesome was allegedly using his a five-bedroom home in Phillipstown to host more than 20 backpackers last year.

The conman is now being investigated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) after Stuff discovered he had set up a company despite being a disqualified director due to his criminal offending.

Bentinck used his tourism-related company, Ugly House Services Ltd, in his application to rent the Avonside home for two years through property management company Champagne Homes Ltd.

Ugly House Services was placed into liquidation on July 6. It owes $161,000 to trade creditors and 50 mobile phones are missing, the liquidator's first report, released on Thursday, says.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF A backpacker living at the home said up to five people had been sleeping in the living room.

After moving into the Avonside rental property, Bentinck installed bunks and put more than a dozen mattresses on the floor. He advertised for guests through social media, charging up to $125 a week.

Morgan said she thought she was renting her house to Bentinck, his partner and their children. He told her property manager he was a law researcher and traffic management consultant earning nearly $170,000 a year. A referee check raised no red flags.

Alarm bells began ringing when a neighbour contacted Morgan earlier this week about the number of people coming and going from the property.

Morgan was shocked to find about 15 people in the house when Bentinck's lease was for a maximum of five people.

"It was an absolute tip . . . It looked like a doss house. There was rubbish, mattresses and belongings everywhere."

After hearing about Bentinck's history she said: "I'm not going to be a victim, this person is not going to be in my house. He has conned us to get into this property and I'm not having it."

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF Bernhardt Bentinck moved into the two-storey home on July 3.

Bentinck has a long criminal history, including fraud, and has been jailed in New Zealand and the United States. Stuff has previously revealed he served a jail sentence for serious sexual offending against two men, one of whom was a backpacker.

On Wednesday, Morgan's Avonside home was still a hive of activity.

Twenty pairs of shoes and a chicken greeted visitors at the door. Inside about 15 backpackers, some asleep in their beds, others making breakfast, still occupied the property. About 20 mattresses were spread throughout the home. One room had two sets of bunks, apparently built by Bentinck in the garage.

STUFF Convicted fraudster Wayne Eaglesome pictured in Christchurch in March.

One of the backpackers, Hendrik Adden, said he paid $125 a week to sleep on one of the mattresses. He often returned from work to have a shower to find the water was cold.

About 15 people lived at the house during the week but numbers rose to 28 in the weekends, he said . His fellow backpackers included several stop/go workers and a relief nurse.

He described Bentinck as "controlling" and claimed Bentinck would tell the backpackers to lie on their CVs so they could get jobs.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF More than a dozen mattresses are spread throughout the house.

Morgan said she was dumbfounded that a convicted criminal could keep scamming people. She had no ill-will towards the backpackers.

"I don't blame them. They're young, overseas people touring our country. They will be looking for the cheapest accommodation they can get and this guy is preying on them."

Property manager Yvonne Parker said Bentinck had a posh accent and seemed credible. She spoke to one of his referees who said he lived at her home for three years.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF Bernhardt Bentinck was charging about $100 a week for people to stay at the house.

The referee declined to comment when contacted by Stuff.

Parker said she was "super careful" when checking tenants and believed there was nothing more she could have done.

By Thursday, Morgan had evicted one of the tenants and told the rest they had until Friday to leave.

STACY SQUIRES/STUFF One room had two sets of bunks, apparently built by Bentinck in the garage.

A Christchurch City Council spokeswoman confirmed an investigation was under way after a complaint was received on Tuesday.

Issues arising included sanitary building requirements and required consent.

Bentinck set up Ugly House Services Limited on April 4.

According to the Companies Office a person is prohibited from being a director of a company if they have been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty in the last five years.

Eaglesome was convicted of a dishonesty offence in 2013.

The Companies Office conducts a search of the disqualified directors list when a new company is incorporated. Eaglesome and his alias Richard Alexander Mountjoy are on the list. Bentinck is not.

An MBIE spokeswoman said anyone applying to be a company director must sign a consent and certificate of director form. The form includes certification that the person is not disqualified from being a director.

"The onus is on the individual to ensure the information they provide to the Registrar of Companies is accurate and truthful. Providing false or misleading information to the Registrar is an offence."

Bentinck did not respond to requests for comment.

THE MAN WITH MANY NAMES

- Wayne Jury Eaglesome has more than two-dozen known aliases, including Richard Mountjoy, Ari Ben Yitzhak and Bernhardt Augustus Longwater.

- Eaglesome, as Alexander De Villiers, was jailed for five years in 2006 for sexually violating and indecently assaulting an 18-year-old backpacker and indecently assaulting another youth. While in prison, he was reprimanded for impersonating a Corrections officer.

- Stuff last year revealed Eaglesome was operating several hostels for backpackers and temporary workers under the name Richard Mountjoy.

- In March, Eaglesome tried to convince garage owner John Lee to buy a 10-bedroom home in central Christchurch, valued at $700,000, so he could run it as a backpackers. He said Lee could earn $2000 a week in rent if the house was run as a hostel. However, after Stuff inquiries, Lee decided to pull out of the deal.

- Eaglesome was jailed for three years in 2012 for various fraud offences, and served a jail sentence in 2003 for similar offending, including impersonating a priest named Father Anthony Garibaldi.

- A Parole Board report from an August 2013 hearing said a psychologist found Eaglesome was at medium to high risk of sexual reoffending and at high risk of general reoffending, particularly fraud.