Money not behind faked death, says brother

The brother of millionaire fraudster Harry Bentley Gordon believes money was not the main motive for faking his own death five years ago.

Gardener and property developer Mike Gordon, 60, has spoken to his younger sibling on the phone since his arrest last week, after years of believing he was dead.

After faking his own death, Harry Gordon lived in Auckland as Robert Motzel and married social worker and film extra Kristine Newsome. His first wife is said to have cracked after five years of interrogation about the death from AMP Insurance and told police about the scam.

Gordon was arrested at Sydney Airport on November 7 when attempting to fly into the city from Auckland.

He did not bring up the issue of a motive specifically but Mike Gordon said: "Harry wasn't a bad person, he was always so generous.

"My guess would be that money was secondary. He was loaded, had plenty. Everybody has been through the grieving process and we are looking forward to hearing first-hand what he has to say."

For the time being, he said he wasn't concerned about the details of the scam. He was just relieved to have him back.

"It's amazing you know. He's alive and whatever journey he's been on and going on, at least he's still there and we will be happy to see him," Mike Gordon said.

It was hard for friends and family to know whether to offer condolences or congratulations in such an unusual situation, he said.

"There's a lot of mixed emotion involved in something like this but the overwhelming one is we have got a brother we thought we'd lost."

Harry Gordon, 57, pleaded guilty on Monday in the Raymond Terrace Local Court in New South Sales, to conspiring to obtain money by deception, and false representation resulting in a police investigation.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing false Australian travel documents and one charge of possessing a falsified Australian passport. He did not apply for bail.

The charges related to his staged drowning five years ago.

In 2001, an Australian coroner ruled Gordon had died in a boating accident when his vessel struck a navigation marker north of Newcastle on June 3, 2000.

The speedboat was found with a smashed windscreen and champagne bottles on the deck. It is alleged his wife, Sheila, conspired with Gordon to claim a A$3.5 million life insurance payout.

Mike Gordon would not specify how his brother made his millions but said he was "worth about five million" when he moved to Australia.

He said friends and family had grieved for the last five years but the circumstances of his death had always remained a mystery. "At the time when there was no body, we wondered," he said.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES