Christchurch businessman jailed for a $103 million fraud denied parole

Gavin Clifford Bennett when being sentenced in 2012. Photo / Geoff Sloan.

A Christchurch businessman jailed for a $103 million fraud that funded a lavish jet-setter's lifestyle has been denied parole.

The parole board, when considering Gavin Bennett's case, said it could not be satisfied that the fraudster wouldn't pose an undue risk to the safety of the community until a "safety plan" about his release was prepared.

Bennett, the former owner of IT firm DataSouth, in 2012 admitted being behind the wide-ranging Ponzi-style scheme, which included a $23 million fraud against South Canterbury Finance.

He was caught by one of the Serious Fraud Office's largest investigations and later sentenced to eight years' jail with a minimum non-parole period of 3 and a half years.

He made his first appearance before a parole board earlier this month, where he was supported by his ex-wife and adult daughter, who he proposes to live with when leaving prison.

The parole board described Bennett's conduct in prison as "above reproach" and said he had been working in the garden.

Bennett was ashamed of what he had done and took responsibility for his offending, the board said.

But there remained questions in the mind of the board about Bennett's insight into his offending.

"The senior psychologist who undertook the assessment noted that the nature of Mr Bennett's offending and his low risk of re-imprisonment, mean that he is not eligible for any intervention offered by the prison...we are in no doubt that such an intervention is required before he leaves prison," the board said.

"Accordingly, we request that Mr Bennett's case manager engage with him in the preparation of an appropriate safety plan identifying his warning signs, high risk situations and the strategies Mr Bennett and his supporters can take to minimise his risk of returning to the situation that led to this offending...the board could not be satisfied that Mr Bennett would not pose an undue risk to the safety of the community until this crucial step is undertaken," the board's decision said when rejecting parole.

Bennett is due to come back to before the parole board in December.

Bennett, in 2012, pleaded guilty to six representative charges under the Crimes Act relating to more than 900 separate incidents of dishonesty using a document, and a further two charges of false accounting.

Between April 2005 and March 2011, he was the sole director of Christchurch-based DataSouth Group, where he orchestrated the bold scam.

The trained accountant created false documents relating to the lease of IT equipment to fraudulently obtain funds from SCF totalling $65.5 million and falsified entries in DataSouth Finance financial statements by an estimated $38 million to retain the ongoing finance facility.

The resulting loss to SCF was at least $23 million.

Bennett used the dishonestly obtained funds to repay earlier false lease agreements, similar to a Ponzi scheme, and to meet business expenses.

He also used the money to fund his high-rolling lifestyle.

He partied in luxury Sydney waterfront apartments, surrounded himself with models and actresses, was chauffeured in BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars and "drank Dom Perignon like it was Speight's".