He surrounded himself with beautiful women and lived a lavish lifestyle at exclusive Sydney bars - but yesterday a New Zealand businessman looked wide-eyed and terrified when he appeared in court accused of a $103 million fraud.
Gavin Clifford Bennett (53), is accused by the Serious Fraud Office of orchestrating a massive fraud that involved a Ponzi-style scheme and false accounting over the past six years.
A former Datasouth Group director in Christchurch, Bennett allegedly created false documents relating to the lease of IT equipment to fraudulently obtain funds from South Canterbury Finance totalling $65.5 million and allegedly falsified entries in Datasouth Finance financial statements by an estimated $38 million in order to retain the ongoing finance facility.
The SFO alleges he used the dishonestly obtained funds to repay earlier false lease agreements in a manner similar to a Ponzi scheme and to meet business expenses.
He also allegedly used a significant amount of money for his personal benefit. Ultimately, the resulting financial loss to South Canterbury Finance was an estimated $26 million.
SFO chief executive Adam Feeley said the fraud had a "very significant financial impact on South Canterbury Finance", which collapsed in 2010, owing investors about $1.7 billion.
The taxpayers bailed it out.
Yesterday, Bennett appeared in court in a dark-blue suit and open-necked white shirt. He looked terrified. He was remanded without plea until next month.
He must reside at a Christchurch address, surrender his passport and not contact former Datasouth staff or customers.
This year, while being investigated by the SFO, Bennett lived in a multimillion-dollar property overlooking the Sydney Opera House and socialised with models and actresses.
One of the models he was linked to was Mariesa Crowder, who met him when he went for a drink at a where venue she worked. Early this year, she said he was going to help her start her own firm but they closed it down soon after and she never saw him again.
As a direct result of the alleged offending, the Datasouth Group went into liquidation in March last year, leaving all 42 staff without jobs, the SFO said.
Mr Feeley said: "The findings of our investigation allege a very sustained and large-scale fraud that not only had a very significant financial impact on South Canterbury Finance, but also, ultimately, on the staff of Datasouth."
The allegations connected to South Canterbury Finance relate to alleged false documents for the lease of IT equipment.
The resulting financial loss was an estimated $26 million.
