A multi-million dollar fraud case against a man who died yesterday at a central Auckland hotel has been adjourned.

Mark Ivil from Tauranga failed to appear in court yesterday on 39 charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office.

He died at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in an apparent chemical incident.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious.

A spokeswoman for the SFO says officially, the only thing which can be confirmed is that the matter is adjourned.

She says no further comment's being made at this point, as a courtesy to Mr Ivil's family.

The 58-year-old was previously described as an elusive defendant, who convinced people to provide him with funds using plausible scenarios about returns on a property development in Australia.