The beautiful Kourawhero Mountain Lodge is up for sale once again.

The lodge spans 100 acres of heritage protected land north of Auckland and includes 18 luxury guest villas, a cocktail bar, restaurant, tennis courts and day spa.

The lodge was bought for $3.25m in March last year, after an Overseas Investment Office investigation that led the High Court to order Chinese businessmen Zhong Liang Hong and Xueli Ke to sell the property.

Hong and Ke ran afoul of New Zealand law by buying the lodge in 2012 without Overseas Investment Office approval.

They did this by arranging for New Zealand citizen Arthur Qui Churchill to place the property under a company name in which Churchill was listed as the sole shareholder and director, High Court Justice Mark Woolford concluded in his judgment last year.

This agreement then remained ‘undocumented’ for about one year, Woolford said. However, in late 2013, Hong and Ke "became aware that Mr Churchill had misappropriated funds in relation to the lodge and had taken out a mortgage against the lodge for his own purposes", he said.

The OIO then initiated an investigation against the businessmen that led to them being prosecuted in the High Court.

The pair were subsequently ordered to pay $2.95m to the Crown as a fine for buying the lodge and another farm nearby without OIO approval.

The current owner, Christopher Tanner, says he loves the property but had decided to sell now as he was looking to slow down and take it easier.

“This property is also likely to attract the attention of high-net-worth buyers seeking it for their own use as an executive-level residential base. A number of properties of similar scale and quality have been snapped up as executive homes in the Warkworth/Matakana area.

“With its discreet rural setting and easy car and helicopter access to the super city, this property could be of great interest to wealthy individuals seeking a trophy property landholding,” says salesperson Dianna Coman.