Fraudster's grandiose lifestyle ends in jail

A New Zealand judge has jailed a former IT executive for eight years over an $80 million fraud carried out to support a lavish international lifestyle.

Sydney was a favourite playground of Gavin Clifford Bennett, who leased luxury apartments in The Rocks and spent millions of dollars on fine-dining, French champagne, fashion and female escorts.

In six years from 2005, the 54-year-old former managing director of Christchurch IT group Datasouth, falsified documents to fraudulently obtain and repay loans from South Canterbury Finance.

The scheme led to losses for the company of $18 million which were ultimately covered by the taxpayer.

In sentencing, Judge Jane Farish said Bennett had committed "an unprecedented level of fraud" to inflate his "business ego" and fund a "grandiose lifestyle".

Taking into account Bennett's cooperation with the investigation, the judge set a minimum non-parole period of three-and-a-half years.

Source: By New Zealand correspondent Dominique Schwartz Posted May 04, 2012