Surf Wear 35

Wife of bankrupt surfwear mogul claims fraud

The Sunday Telegraph

May 03, 2009 12:01am

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THE wife of declared bankrupt and former Billabong surfwear boss Matthew Perrin has made startling allegations of identity fraud and forgery in a Supreme Court bid to protect her luxury Gold Coast mansion from the circling Commonwealth Bank.

Nicole Perrin claims her signature was forged on two mortgage documents and on a guarantee against loans worth more than $13 million extended to her husband by the bank, court documents show.

The Commonwealth Bank claims Mrs Perrin last year took out two mortgages against her $15 million Surfers Paradise mansion, where she lives with the couple's three children.

The bank has applied for a court order to repossess the two-storey Cronin Island home after Mr Perrin declared himself bankrupt in March.

His bankruptcy documents also indicated he no longer lived on Cronin Island with his wife, giving his home address as a unit in Mermaid Beach.

Mrs Perrin has applied to the Supreme Court in Brisbane for a restraining order to stop the bank taking the home.

In her claim, Mrs Perrin says she did not authorise or consent to the mortgages and says it is not her signature on a loan guarantee.

It is also alleged that the signatures of Mr Perrin's brother, prominent solicitor Fraser Perrin - who purportedly witnessed the security documents - also are forged.
Related Coverage

* "No notice' from Nicole PerrinCourier Mail, 5 Jun 2009
* The O List - May 24, 2009Adelaide Now,
* Forgery claims sent to policeCourier Mail, 13 May 2009
* Perrin faces public examinationCourier Mail, 4 May 2009
* Reader's Comments: Tycoon's wife alleges fraud - The Courier-MailCourier Mail,

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In an affidavit by Mrs Perrin's solicitor, Jon Broadley, he claims Fraser Perrin told him it was not his signature on the documents and he had not witnessed Nicole Perrin signing them.

Mrs Perrin's application also includes a report from a handwriting expert, who once worked for Queensland Police, stating that he believes the signatures of Mrs Perrin and Fraser Perrin appear to be false.

The court documents show Mrs Perrin's lawyer wrote to the Commonwealth Bank in March, saying it had failed to ensure Mrs Perrin was the person who signed the mortgages on the Cronin Island home, which Mrs Perrin says she has owned solely in her name since 2000.

"This was not a case of, say, small personal loans to buy a modest car or tinnie," said Mr Broadley of Broadley Rees Hogan.

"A wife was being asked to guarantee $15 million worth of loans for business ventures associated with her husband, in which she had no interest."

When contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, Mrs Perrin declined to comment on her allegations and court claim.

The Sunday Telegraph was unsuccessful in attempts to contact Matthew Perrin. Fraser Perrin was also uncontactable.