Aaron John Parsons jailed for music investment scam, series of frauds

A Sunshine Coast man went as far as pretending to be a fake lawyer to dupe six victims out of almost $400,000 of their hard-earned savings.

Aaron John Parsons appeared in Maroochydore District Court by video from jail on Thursday. Picture: Patrick Woods

A Mount Coolum man who defrauded friends and colleagues out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through elaborate scams will spend more than a year behind bars.

Judge Gary Long told Aaron John Parsons on Thursday he needed to serve at least 15 months’ in jail for his betrayal, deceit and manipulation of six victims through a series of dastardly frauds.

The 50-year-old man previously pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, which involved him defrauding people of $396,335 over three years.

His partner Tanya Pluckhahn pleaded guilty to two other counts of fraud, where she swindled her victims of $69,195 over two years.

She is on bail and is currently awaiting the outcome of her sentence.

Appearing by video link from prison, Judge Long said Parsons set out to dupe six victims, including one couple, through a series of dishonest schemes over three years after he and his partner went bankrupt.

After they accumulated a series of legitimate loans totalling $397,000 in 2015, the court heard they began their offending after realising they could not repay the money to their friends and colleagues.

Parsons pleaded guilty at a previous sentence hearing. Picture: Patrick Woods

The first fraud involved Parsons asking his victims to invest in the music career of Sunshine Coast singer Alys Ffion, who was an artist the couple knew. Ms Ffion was not aware of the fraud and is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Judge Long said general interest returns along with the repayment of initial capital were promised, with some investors paid a few increments.

The court heard one victim, a 60-year-old man who already loaned Parsons $10,000, mortgaged his home to provide $120,000 to the Mount Coolum man.

Another couple was defrauded of $35,000 after being sold a similar lie by the 50-year-old.

Parsons’ second swindle involved more victims, where he fraudulently claimed money from a number of scams.

Judge Long said this included falsely saying he had cancer to illicit money for phony medical expenses and telling others he was suing a child support agency and would receive a large payout.

Tanya Pluckhahn is due to be sentenced.

The court was told Parsons lied to victims about needing money for legal costs to invest in his case. He even made up false lawyers and impersonated them to speak to his victims and “perpetuate” his lies.

One victim was defrauded of $21,480, another couple was taken for $117,910. This couple went as far as to borrow money from their own friends and family, obtaining personal loans, selling personal items and withdrawing cash from credit cards.

Two more were duped of $93,745 and $8200 separately.

Judge Long said the victims were compensated for the frauds and legitimate loans, however they suffered from emotional and psychological effects partnered with financial losses at the time.

The court heard the 50-year-old, who came from a stable family life and was well regarded before his crimes, was now in debt to his father who provided money to repay the victims.

Judge Long said the courts needed to recognise the extent and level of Parsons’ crimes, where he took advantage of his “trusting victims”.

Parsons was jailed for five years, to be suspended after he served 15 months.

The 20 days he served in custody following the first part of his sentence on February 21 was declared as time served.