Conman Paul Bennett pleads guilty to $580,000 worth of fraud chargesSam Sherwood
17:52, Jul 23 2020
Simone Wright and Paul Bennett married in 2002. They sailed to New Zealand in 2005.
A helicopter pilot and conman was able to enter New Zealand with his wife on a yacht without authorities knowing, before committing more than $400,000 worth of fraud.
After eluding authorities for many years, Paul James Bennett and his then partner, Simone Anne Wright, a former TV presenter, sailed a yacht from the Bay of Islands in 2015 to Australia where it was recognised cruising off the coast of Sydney with a damaged sail.
On May 13, 2016, Bennett was escorted by four Australian police officers on a flight to Christchurch from Sydney and was arrested by waiting police officers.
He has been on remand in jail for more than four years while facing 60 charges.
On Thursday, Bennett and Wright appeared in the Christchurch District Court before Judge Paul Kellar.
Bennett, represented by lawyer Simon Shamy, pleaded guilty to seven representative charges, involving four complainants totalling $580,000. Several charges, including allegedly stealing the yacht, were dropped.
He was sentenced to 38 months’ imprisonment. Wright is set to go on trial next month.
Simone Anne Wright and her then-partner Paul James Bennett.
JAMES LOCHEADBennett met the first victim, dairy farmer George Glaister, while living in Australia under the name James Lochead.
In April 2003 through to June 2003, Glaister was looking for some aircraft navigation parts for his aircraft, placing advertisements on several internet-based sales sites.
On 18 June 2003, he received an email from Bennett as the chief executive officer of the Parkwood Trust in Australia.
Bennett offered to sell Glaister parts for $12,000, with a down payment of AU$8000. The balance was to be paid within 90 days of receiving the parts. On June 23, Glaister transferred the money.
There were 12 further incidents involving the supply of avionic equipment totalling $111,000 that were never supplied. Glaister contacted Bennett in 2004 about the outstanding orders but never received a response.
In his victim impact statement, Glaister outlined the significant financial and emotional toll the offending took on him.
CONMAN ENTERS COUNTRYSometime between 2000 and 2001 Bennett met Wright, an Australian citizen, while in Australia. They married in 2002 in Sydney and in 2005 they sailed to New Zealand. Bennett was a skilled yachtsman.
However, Immigration New Zealand has no record of either Bennett or Wright entering the country at the time.
In 2007, Bennett and Wright met several people through their mutual involvement in the motocross racing scene. Bennett represented himself as an agent and manager in the New Zealand motocross community.
In mid-2007, Grant Leighton gave Bennett a cheque for $10,500 for the purchase of a Honda CRF 250 motorcycle, which Bennett did not actually own.
Surveillance photos of the fugitives of Bennett and Wright on the yacht as they approached Sydney.
The cheque was handed over and Bennett handed over the bike.
Several months later Leighton gave Bennett another motorbike to sell on his behalf, with Bennett saying he had a buyer for it. Leighton told Bennett he wanted $7000 for it.
Several weeks later Leighton came to his address to get the motorbike, but neither Bennett nor the motorbike could be found. The actual owner of the motorbike eventually made contact with Leighton, who returned it. Leighton ended up losing the $10,500 he paid for the Honda and an additional $7000 for the other motorbike.
In April 2008, Bennett met Frederick Saunders at a motocross event. Bennett spoke to Saunders about his son trialling to ride in France for a racing team. Following the meeting, there was an exchange of emails in which he asked for a bond of $9998 held in a trust before being forwarded to a racing team.
Saunders paid the money into a bank account in the name of S T Williams Trust. His son ended up not wanting to take up the France option, so Saunders asked for his money back. Bennett agreed, and in an email on May 8, said he would refund the money the next day. He never got the money.
HELICOPTER CHARGESIn early 2012, Bennett met a man named Mike Jacomb through TradeMe regarding a Rolex watch repair Jacomb needed.
Jacomb travelled to Bennett's home in Wānaka. At the time Bennett called himself Dennis Kite, but later asked to be known as David Kite.
At the meeting, Jacomb discovered the pair had an interest in helicopters, with Bennett saying he had a helicopter licence.
Bennett kept in touch with Jacomb over the coming months and there was discussion about starting a business in which Jacomb would purchase a helicopter, and Bennett would be the pilot.
An informal business relationship was agreed. Jacomb started a company called Helipower, which operated out of Upper Hutt.
Bennett would source the helicopter through a company in Perth, purchasing three helicopters in 2013. He also arranged for the inspection of a helicopter based in Ukraine, which was not purchased.
The first helicopter was bought for $US950,000 in 2012. The helicopter was assembled by Helisupport, a Wānaka-based company. The helicopter was then leased to another company, but was written off when a pilot crashed into another helicopter.
Between July and October 2013, Bennett sought reimbursement of a number of fake invoices and expenses from Jacomb. In August 2013, he forged Jacomb’s signature on a credit application and kept lease payments or proceeds from the sale of helicopter parts between November 2013 and March 2014.
In September 2013, Bennett arranged for a pre-purchase inspection of another helicopter based in Ukraine. He then sought reimbursement of NZ$41,000 from Jacomb. However, the actual cost was only $11,000.
The second helicopter Jacomb purchased was for $US1.6m in mid-2013. The helicopter sustained some damage during transit. In August 2013 the helicopter was assembled and repaired by Helisupport.
Bennett then sought reimbursement on a number of fake invoices and expenses relating to the helicopter from Jacomb and received a payment relating to the transit damage that was not passed onto Jacomb.
The third helicopter Jacomb purchased was for US$1.05m. The helicopter was eventually leased to High Country Helicopters, near Invercargill. Bennett forged a number of invoices in relation to the helicopter and kept lease payments from Jacomb. He also forged a Helisupport invoice relating to two choppers.
In May 2014, an insurance agent emailed Bennett to confirm the transit claim for the damaged chopper was ready to be settled, asking for the release form to be signed and returned. Bennett then emailed and signed the form asking for payment made to his account, with US$70,000 and NZ$27,000 paid into his bank account.
A day earlier Jacomb's accountant emailed Bennett about a number of discrepancies in invoices that the Inland Revenue Department had picked up, that Bennett had forged. When Jacomb questioned Bennett about it, he said it was a problem with his accounting software problem, and he would sort it out.
It was the last contact Jacomb had from Bennett. Jacomb flew to Christchurch on May 9, 2014, to find him, but he had disappeared.
Bennett’s offences involving Jacomb amount to 21 separate offences, including using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage, misuse of a forged document theft.
Judge Kellar said there were several aggravating factors in relation to Bennett's offending, including the amount of loss, period of time offending occurred, the seriousness of the breaches, and impact of trust.
Some of the offending was unsophisticated, but in other parts the offending was highly sophisticated, he said.
Shamy told Judge Kellar there was realistically no possibility of any reparation, saying Bennett would be on a benefit when released.
www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/122184151/conman-paul-bennett-pleads-guilty-to-580000-worth-of-fraud-charges
