Joel Morehu-Barlow has returned to New Zealand. Photo / News Corp Australia/Liam Kidston
Joel Morehu-Barlow has returned to New Zealand. Photo / News Corp Australia/Liam Kidston
Joel Morehu-Barlow, the fake Tahitian prince who stole millions of dollars destined for charity, has returned home to NZ after he was granted parole in Australia and is staying with a prominent Kiwi TV personality.
Morehu-Barlow, who landed in Auckland last week, was expected to stay with his mother Andre in his hometown of Thames but after days tracking the family, Australian media have now revealed that he is holed up in Thames with media personality Aroha Hathaway, a family friend.
Photos published in the Courier Mail show Morehu-Barlow dressed casually in trackpants and a T-shirt - far removed from his time spent wearing the Louis Vuitton clothing he bought with misappropriated funds.
The 44-year-old fraudster was photographed outside Hathaway's home, watering the garden and eating his breakfast from a plastic container.
Joel Morehu-Barlow at the Thames property. Photo / News Corp Australia/Liam Kidston
The Courier-Mail reported that when Morehu-Barlow spotted their photographer, he appeared to alert his mother from his phone, who appeared shortly after and began filming the journalists.
Family friend and New Zealand media identity Aroha Hathaway. Photo / News Corp Australia/Liam Kidston
Joel Morehu-Barlow's mother Andre filmed the Aussie reporters from her car. Photo / News Corp Australia/Liam Kidston
When the Courier-Mail approached Hathaway, she refused to comment and said "don't come back".
Hathaway has been a fixture on TV and radio in New Zealand for decades, appearing on Māori TV series DIY Marae and across MediaWorks radio. She now runs an art gallery in Thames.
"Become someone … at any cost"
Hohepa Morehu-Barlow - known as Joel - was finally released from Queensland's Wolston Correctional Centre last week – more than three years after becoming eligible for parole.
Morehu-Barlow – who claimed to be a member of the Tahitian royal family – was jailed for 14 years for the "audacious" theft of A$16 million ($16.7m) from Queensland Health over four years. He told his mother in prison letters he wanted to "become someone … at any cost" after a childhood marred by domestic violence and poverty.
The secluded home where Joel Morehu-Barlow has been staying. Photo / News Corp Australia/Liam Kidston
Morehu-Barlow pleaded guilty to five fraud and three drug offences in 2013 after siphoning off money meant for charity.
He used the money to fund an extravagant party lifestyle, buying a luxury waterfront home in the affluent Brisbane suburb New Farm and filling it with designer furniture and expensive art.
He had two Mercedes Benz cars, bought lavish gifts for friends and colleagues and threw parties with thousands of dollars of liquor. He became a VIP at Brisbane's Louis Vuitton shop where staff would close the doors so he could shop in private.
"He told friends, acquaintances and work colleagues that his extravagant lifestyle resulted from him being a member of the Tahitian royal family, which gave him access to a trust fund," court documents state. "In some documents he gave his title as 'HRH'."
When the fraud was uncovered, authorities seized and catalogued his possessions and sold them at auction – among them a Louis Vuitton surfboard, a $25,000 case of Hennessy XO Cognac, Hermes garden tools and a $95,000 Bang & Olufsen TV.
Joel Morehu-Barlow led the high life in Brisbane. Photo / The Courier-Mail
The unsophisticated fraud was made worse by the revelation that Morehu-Barlow had lied about his university qualifications and had been convicted of fraud in New Zealand.
Morehu-Barlow appealed his sentence, arguing it was "manifestly excessive" given around A$12m ($12.5m) was able to be recovered through asset sales. This amount was reduced by costs, including legal and Public Trustee fees. The appeal was unsuccessful.
In letters to his mother, he said he had learned that his troubled upbringing was no different to many others.
"I know the most precious gift/item/things in life is not money, wealth, flash house or cars – it's people, particularly family," he wrote to his mother Andre. "I have truly accepted the consequences of my actions. I feel enlightened. I feel like an enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders, a veil of secrecy removed. I can finally be honest with myself."
Morehu-Barlow was apologetic to his mother, apologising for the shame he had brought her and their family. He told her he'd wanted to "become someone … at any cost".
"I … wanted to prove everyone wrong, to become someone," he wrote. "I wanted the shame gone so bad that I wanted it at all cost or at any cost."
