Serial fraudster jailed a fourth time after syphoning almost $400k from Nelson businessman in six days

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

A serial scammer who conned government agencies to steal almost $400,000 from a Nelson businessman has been jailed for a fourth time.

Brendon Karl Dean Harris sat with his head high in the dock of Christchurch District Court on Tuesday, eyes darting between his family, the lawyers, and Judge Paul Keller as the court discussed how he and his co-conspirator, Hone Bita Malcolm Tipa McQueen, stole the money in just six days.

Harris, who pleaded guilty in April to six charges linked to the elaborate scam carried out in late December 2025, was the mastermind behind the crime, the court heard.

Harris, just after being released from prison, called the Inland Revenue Department and, using personal information, obtained the wealthy Nelson businessman’s IRD number on December 23.

An hour later Harris and Tipa McQueen made a fake online police report posing as the victim, who has name suppression.

They claimed the victim’s phones, laptop, bank cards, business cards and driver’s licence had been stolen from his car while he was on holiday in Dunedin.

Harris then called the Department of Internal Affairs and, after providing the victim’s personal information, obtained his passport number.

His co-defendant then contacted Spark a number of times claiming the phones of the victim and his wife had been stolen, and asked for their numbers to be blocked.

Tipa McQueen failed, but Harris called Spark himself and managed to convince staff to block the numbers and replace them with his and his co-defendant’s.

Harris repeatedly contacted the victim’s bank, the name of which is suppressed, and used the police report and extensive personal information to pass security checks, eventually changing passwords to take control of the victim’s business accounts.

He gained full access, and by the time the scam unravelled the pair had made 53 transfers worth $397,000.

It ended on December 31 when the bank because suspicious and froze the accounts.

Harris and Tipa McQueen pleaded guilty to three charges of accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes and one charge of engaging in a money laundering transaction.

Harris also pleaded guilty to two more charges of accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes.

His lawyer urged Judge Keller to allow her client to go to rehabilitation for his dishonesty offending and methamphetamine addiction, saying while the court had heard it before, this time he meant he wanted to change.

But the judge declined, saying he believed Harris was planning the con well before the offending began.

Harris’ upbringing taught him how to manipulate and gain systems and people, which was celebrated by his family, the court was told.

A forensic psychologist’s report found he was at a high risk of reoffending, Judge Keller said.

Addressing him directly, he said: “You were clear that you had the desire to take every last dollar from your victim. You spared no thought at the time of the victim or anyone else who would have been directly or indirectly impacted by the offending.

“You were completely self-focused the entire time, enjoying the thrill and success of reoffending.”

Harris was sentenced to three years and two months in prison, with a minimum term of 19 months.

Tipa McQueen was deemed to have been less culpable, and was sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment.

Harris has a long history of convictions dating to 2013, and was jailed in 2017, 2019 and 2023 for similar offending.

Previous scams included targeting elderly people living alone, and using stolen driver licences and SIM cards to access bank and utility accounts.

In one case, one victim had put aside savings for his wife’s cancer treatment.

The sophistication of Harris’ 2021 scams, which were worth about $371,000, prompted banks and telecommunications companies to tighten their security processes.

Between 2015 and 2016 Harris was part of a group that targeted at least 30 elderly women, causing losses of up to $600,000. He pleaded with his sentencing judge at the time not to go to jail.