‘Millionaire claimant sought legal aid’

Press, 13 May 1981, Page 4

‘Millionaire claimant sought legal aid’

u A man. who claimed .to nave more than ?2 million, had filled in a legal aid application form declaring that he had no assets. Mr Justice Hardie Boys and a jury were told in the High Court yesterday. John Perkovic, aged 50, has pleaded not guilty to alternative charges of forging a $2,000,002 entry in his bank passbook, or using the forged passbook to obtain money, and to a third charge of false pretences. Mr S. G. Erber appeared for the Crown, and Mr P. N. Dyhberg for Perkovic. The Crown alleged that Perkovic was a confidence trickster who posed as an international businessman with two homes, an aeroplane and a ship, and who swindled a woman (Mrs Skilling) out of $4OOO. The jury retired to consider its verdict late yesterday afternoon. The trial began on Monday. Perkovic said in evidence that his usual occupation was a commercial artist. He first met Mrs Skilling while he was in prison. He denied asking her to say that she was his secretary from Australia.

It was admitted by Perkovic that he had told Mrs Skilling that his company

had offices in Perth and Sydney but he had never mentioned Brazil and Switzerland to her. L He had never offered Mrs Skilling $20,000 a year to act as his secretary. He had told her and her husband that they could earn that sum on commission on the sale throughout New Zealand of the novelty cards which he had registered and was going to have printed.

Perkovic denied that he had ever suggested to members of the Skilling family that he had the right to sell gold bars from a sunken ship. The first time he had heard of that was in court.

He had borrowed $5OOO from Mrs Skilling because he needed the money- to purchase offset printing plates and paper and to pay urgent debts. He also wanted to bail out someone" from prison who owed him $B5OO. The loan was only until he was able to transfer funds: from Australia to New. Zealand. - Perkovic said he'had asked Mrs Skilling tb.V transfer $200,000 from his'special account in Australia to the bank in New Zealand. . ; • The entry of $2 million in the passbook did not mean that there were $2 million in the account, but was.a password for identification which would result in the nerson

producing it being given access to his special account at the bank to transfer. funds. The sum was really, a code number. It had been entered in the passbook by a “Mr Harris” who lived in Australia. *

Detective Sergeant C- Dal-* zell was not correct when he said that the accused had

admitted writing the $2 million entry in the passbook, but it had been written in with his consent. The passbook was to be Mrs Skilling’s identification that she was the person authorised to arrange the transfer of the funds on his behalf.

He had never told Mrs Skilling that the loan she had made to him would be repaid to her in Australia , from his

coded special account: To Mr Erber, Perkovic agreed that he had opened the account with the CBA Savings Bank on October 18, 1978, and that the entry of $2 million - was made in the passbook on his authority on September 20, 1978. ■: Mr Erber: Will you tell his Honour and the jury how somebody . could write an entry into that passbook before the account was ever opened? was the arrangement. Special arrangement with whom? 4- With ipe and my special account.

Perkovic said that the $2 million entry had been made . by “Mr Harris.” He was in a position to repay Mrs Skilling the money from his special account, but he would not disclose the special ac'cbiint to anyone at that stage. You won’t tell us? — I cannot. . Why? — For many special purposes. What special purpose? — For, many special confidential purposes. ,’Wnat special confidential purposes? — I cannot say. I am bound by that. . Perkovic refused to dis-

close how much money was in his special account but said it was more than $2 million.

Shown an application for legal aid Perkovic admitted that he had not disclosed that he had assets of more than $2 million because the money was not in New Zealand.

Asked if the form disclosed that the declaration applied only to New Zealand assets Perkovic said that he wished to apply for an adjournment so that he could get witnesses in from Australia. Questioned again Perkovic conceded that there was nothing on the form which said that the declaration of assets only applied to those in New Zealand.

Perkovic admitted that he had told Mrs Skilling that he owed $lOOO to the Clarendon Hotel. He asked her if she wanted receipts for the money she had lent him and she said that she did not. She had lent the money to him without any security except his word. The telephone call at which Mrs Skilling was present had come from Sydney from a Miss Smith, who was Mr Harris’s secretary. The call came from a bank in Kogura, a suburb of Sydney.

Asked where Mr Harris was at the time of the call Perkovic said he did not know but he had an office in the Remington Building in Liverpool Street, Sydney.

Perkovic said that the name of his company was Australia and New Zealand Enterprises, Pty, Ltd. He denied that the addresses of the company he had given in Sydney and Perth did not exist.

Mr Erber: Why was it that Mrs Skilling could not find the number of the company in the Perth telephone book? —She could not find it at 11 o’clock at night. If she looked for Scout Agency she would find it.

Mrs Skilling had been unable to find the company’s location in Sydney because

there was no sign outside — only in the lobby. It was in a fairly old sort of building. Asked to describe Mr Harris, Perkovic said that he was quite tall, of strong build and fair looking. He was aged 42. What is his occupation? — I cannot say that. This is the wrong place.

Is he a bank manager? — He is associated with a bank. Where can I find him seeing you want him to give evidence for you? — All I say. this is the wrong place. He doesn't exist does he? — He does.

“I am begging for an adjournment,” Perkovic said. “Questions are very touchy and I need an adjournment so that I can get evidence and go through everything.”

His Honour instructed the cross-examination to continue.

To Mr Erber, Perkovic admitted that he had been charged with these offences in April, 1980. and that he had got in touch with Mr Harris and he was willing to come to New Zealand to help him, at any time. Asked what currency his fortune was in, Perkovic replied Danish, Swiss and Australian. It was an inheritance from his father who had been an importer and exporter in

Yugoslavia where he had died last vear.

Roughly how much did he leave you? — I cannot tell you that.

Perkovic said that he was aware that Yugoslavia was a Communist country but the money did not come from there because his father had it somewhere else.

After denying that he had any further bank accounts in New Zealand Perkovic admitted that he had one with the National Bank in Auckland. which contained $2.

To Mr Dyhberg. Perkovic said that Mr Harris went under another name which he could not disclose.

In reply to a question by his Honour. Perkovic said that Mr Harris used his other

name in public. Asked why he could not disclose Mr' Harris’s other name Perkovic said that he was bound by the Confidential Act of Australia not to reveal the names of the persons he was dealing with. If he made certain disclosures the consequences for him would be severe, perhaps even death. Last year on April 14 a man was killed in Mt Eden and it was supposed to be him. He had received a message from the outside that he was going to be killed but instead another man died. He had been given poisoned food and ended up in Auckland Hospital.

Perkovic said that he was under special security to save his life.