Kiwi-born ‘prince’ will be deported
Fraudster who stole $21m from Aussie taxpayers to be paroled
A Kiwi fraudster who pretended to be a Polynesian prince and stole $21 million from Aussie taxpayers is set to be released from jail.
Hohepa Morehu-Barlow — also known as Joel — went from a troubled childhood in Thames to being the toast of Queensland’s social set.
He told people he was Tahitian royalty but he was financing his transformation with millions of dollars stolen from the state government.
It was later revealed that the finance manager used the money to buy a luxury waterfront apartment, expensive sports cars, lavish gifts for family and friends and more than A$600,000 ($626,239) worth of Louis Vuitton goods.
In March 2013 Morehu-Barlow was jailed for 14 years for fraud. He is set to be released from prison after serving just seven years.
According to the Daily Mail, Morehu-Barlow, now 45, became eligible for parole in December 2016.
After two failed attempts he has reportedly now been granted parole and is due to be released before the end of this month and will be deported back to New Zealand immediately.
Officials are in the process of organising his travel back to New Zealand and have told his family here to “prepare” for his release.
The convicted fraudster claims to be a “changed man” and referred to himself as the “perfect prison inmate” at his parole hearing, the Daily Mail reported.
Last year letters between Morehu-Barlow and his mother were published.
In those, he expressed his anger at being rejected by the parole board.
He also spoke about why he offended — telling his mother that he wanted to “become someone”.
“I am the perfect inmate, a role model inmate. If my crime wasn’t against the Government I would be home already,” he wrote.
In the letters, Morehu-Barlow also acknowledged the shame he brought to his family and asked his mother for forgiveness for his offending.
“I know now the most precious gift/item/things in life is not money, wealth, flash house or cars — it’s people, particularly family,” he wrote.
Morehu-Barlow pleaded guilty to eight fraud and drug charges when he appeared in the Brisbane District Court in 2013.
His offending, the largest fraud against the state Government, funded an extravagant lifestyle that made Morehu-Barlow one of Brisbane’s fashionable high flyers.
He made 62 fraudulent transactions with a total value of A$16,690,067.57 to his private bank account between 2008 and his arrest in December 2011.
At the time of his arrest, police said they had frozen A$12 million worth of assets.
Crown prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court Morehu-Barlow’s spending behaviour was “extreme”.
“He used [the stolen money] to fund an opulent lifestyle, provide lavish gifts and support a persona he had created for himself as a wealthy Tahitian prince required to work to obtain his inheritance,” he said.
Morehu-Barlow started work at Queensland Health in 2005. His promotion as a senior financial manager’ enabled him to manipulate the system so he could make payments that wouldn’t be detected.