Matthew Perrin engaged to Belinda Otten

Former Billabong surfwear boss Matthew Perrin, who was released from jail earlier this year, has proposed to his long-time love with a huge diamond ring.

JUST two months after his mysterious early release from jail, disgraced Gold Coast tycoon Matthew Perrin has become engaged.

Perrin, the former Billabong surfwear boss once worth more than $150 million, popped the question to long-time partner Belinda Otton beachside at the swank Sheraton Mirage hotel at Main Beach last weekend.

Matthew Perrin and his girlfriend Belinda Otten

The happy couple then celebrated with family and friends with a party in the luxurious Crystal Lounge at the Gold Coast Turf Club, where prices start from $164 a head.

Ms Otton was later photographed by The Sunday Mail sporting a huge diamond ring, which sources estimated could be worth as much as $50,000.

The ring is believed to have been custom-made by 107-year-old Southport jewellery boutique, Birkbecks.

Sources say French champagne flowed at the engagement party, attended by guests including Perrin’s three adult children from his previous marriage to Glitter Strip real estate agent Nicole Bricknell.

Perrin’s alleged affair with Ms Otton led to the breakdown of his marriage to Ms Bricknell — his childhood sweetheart and the daughter of prominent Gold Coast bookmaker Laurie Bricknell — in 2009.

The same year, the former gun lawyer and whiz-kid entrepreneur filed for bankruptcy with debts of $20 million.

In 2017, Perrin was sentenced to eight years’ jail after pleading guilty of forging Ms Bricknell’s signature to secure a $13.5 million loan against their Cronin Island mansion for a disastrous Chinese supermarket investment.

Belinda Otten wearing her new engagement ring.

But he was freed from jail in June, a year before he was eligible for parole, after a secret Supreme Court hearing.

The circumstances of his early release are shrouded in mystery and Perrin has refused to comment publicly, but cryptically told a family friend: “I’m out and someone else is going in.”

In some instances, convicted criminals can receive reduced penalties for co-operating with authorities.

Since his release, Perrin, 47, has been spotted lapping up his freedom at family parties around the Gold Coast.

A buff Perrin has also been photographed at a Bundall gym, where he works out with son Jake.

Perrin and Otton did not respond to a request for comment about their engagement and Ms Bricknell said she had ‘nothing bad to say’. A date for the wedding is not believed to have been set.

Perrin was last month struck off as a solicitor, with a legal tribunal describing his conduct as “wilfully deceitful’’.

Originally published as Matthew Perrin engaged to Belinda Otten