Kiwi jailed for $20m fraud

Joel Morehu-Barlow
Joel Morehu-Barlow

A flamboyant Kiwi fraudster who defrauded the Queensland Government of A$16 million ($20 million) has been sentenced to 14 years in an Australian prison.
Former Brisbane socialite Hohepa Morehu-Barlow, who grew up in Thames, has admitted systematically stealing the money while working for Queensland Health.

Morehu-Barlow, who was also known as Joel Barlow, pleaded guilty to eight charges relating to fraud and drug offences when he appeared in the Brisbane District Court today.

His offending, the largest ever fraud against the state government, funded an extravagant lifestyle that made Morehu-Barlow one of Brisbane's fashionable high flyers.

He told people he was a Tahitian prince and his lavish lifestyle was the result of a regular allowance from his family.

Morehu-Barlow used his stolen millions to accumulate loot including a A$5 million luxury waterfront home, two Mercedes-Benz sports cars, an Audi A4, a baby grand piano and an extravagant collection of Louis Vuitton goods worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He was arrested in December 2011 at his newly-bought Brisbane mansion. At the time, police said they had frozen A$12 million worth of assets.

Morehu-Barlow started work for Queensland Health in 2005. 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 2011.

His senior role meant he knew how grants were paid to charity groups. He used this knowledge to funnel money into a fake charity called Filling the Gap he set up in 2008.

Morehu-Barlow forged documents purporting to be from the office of two separate health ministers to make the transactions appear legitimate.

A final transfer of A$11 million at the end of 2011 sparked a police investigation.

Crown prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court today that Morehu-Barlow had already spent more than A$12 million of his stolen funds and described his spending behaviour as "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,'' Mr Fuller said.

Police found Morehu-Barlow unconscious on a bed at his newly-bought apartment on December 12, 2011. He was treated by paramedics who believed he was affected by drugs, including P and ecstasy, found at his home.

Defence barrister David Shepherd said Morehu-Barlow was the oldest of six children. The suicide of one of his brothers in 2007 had a "profound effect'' on Morehu-Barlow, Mr Shepherd said.

"He felt guilty for not realising the extent of his brother's depression. That sense of failure played on his own mind for some months and as a consequence his drug use increased. He then resorted to this offending.''

Stealing from Queensland Health was "perhaps a way of alleviating those feelings of guilt", Mr Shepherd said.

Judge Kerry O'Brien said Morehu-Barlow's conduct was "the most serious breach'' of the trust placed on him in his role at Queensland Health.

"This was an audacious scheme, which involved the manipulation of the grants scheme for ministerial support for charities and other community groups, to obtain an opulent and extravagant lifestyle [and] a way for you to ingratiate yourself to other people,'' Judge O'Brien said.

"Your dishonesty only ceased with police involvement. Fortunately ... some of the money has been recovered.''

- By Kieran Campbell of APNZ in Brisbane

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