Court documents released to the Otago Daily Times show Swann, acting as a trustee of six family trusts, filed the civil appeal in October last year.
The former Otago District Health Board IT manager, who is serving a nine-and-a-half-year jail sentence after being convicted for his part in stealing $16.9 million from the board, was not a trustee of the trusts at the time of the civil proceedings in 2009, but has since become one.
In a handwritten notice of appeal, Swann said his appeal should be heard because the trustees were not given the opportunity to defend the civil case despite filing a memorandum to the court and three letters to the judge requesting they be heard; the lawyer assigned to the trusts by the judge failed to communicate with the trustees; and the lawyer made several misrepresentations to the court.
All of this amounted to "serious miscarriage of justice for the trusts and [their] beneficiaries", Swann said.
He asked that the trustees be heard, and be heard by a judge who was "not sitting or influenced by the Dunedin media or Crown".
Swann is representing himself, and is not receiving legal aid for the appeal, which is to be considered on the papers, rather than in an oral hearing.
Justice Panckhurst's July 2009 decision said the Devereux Family Trust, Ferntree Lodge Family Trust, Rowan Court Family Trust, Rowan Court Family Trust No 2, Organic White Meats Trust and Fresh Free Range Chickens Trust all owned restrained property which was to be forfeited.
The decision was not specific about how much trust-owned property in total was to be forfeited, but listed at least $2.5 million worth of real estate as belonging to trusts, including Fern Tree Lodge in Dunedin and properties at Careys Bay and Wanaka.
Anna Devereux, Peter Ibbotson, Grant Fyfe and Checketts McKay Trustees Ltd were the trustees of the various trusts at the time, although Swann had "effective control" of the trusts, it said.
It listed the beneficiaries of the trusts as Swann, Ms Devereux, their children and grandchildren.
Earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the Official Assignee said the properties not yet sold would be put on the market once some "complicating factors" had been sorted out.
She declined to confirm if the complicating factors related to Swann's appeal.
A minute from Appeal Court justice Ellen France noted Swann objected to the release of details of his appeal because he said it would breach the privacy interests of the young beneficiaries of the various trusts.
The solicitor-general did not oppose the application.
Justice France said she decided not to release all documents before the appeal was concluded, because of the privacy issues raised by Swann.
