Man who faked death back in court
from the website of theage.com in Australia (click link above)
December 22, 2005
Sydney man Harry Gordon, who faked his own death as part of a life insurance scam, had two main objectives this year.
One was to secure his $3.5 million payout and the other was to "stay out of jail", Raymond Terrace Local Court heard.
But the 56-year-old former millionaire has failed on both fronts.
Gordon was again remanded in custody, having pleaded guilty last month to four charges relating to the swindle.
And AMP Insurance still has not paid out a cent, after the one-time businessman staged his death in a boating accident.
His estranged wife, Sheila, and 30-year-old daughter, Josaphine, also have been charged with conspiring to claim his multi-million dollar life insurance policy.
As father and daughter faced court, prosecutors laid a fresh charge against each of them, alleging the three Gordons conspired "together and amongst themselves to cheat and defraud AMP Insurance".
Gordon was arrested at Sydney airport in November on arrival from New Zealand, where he was apparently living with a new wife under the assumed name of Robert Motzel.
He had disappeared on June 3, 2000.
His abandoned runabout was discovered on the Karuah River near Port Stephens, north of Newcastle, champagne bottles littering the deck.
Following an inquest in April 2001, Coroner John Abernethy ruled that Gordon had drowned, thrown overboard when his boat ran into a navigation marker.
Doesn't anyone really die anymore?