Kevin Rex Mason: man jailed after making $432,000 in withdrawals from joint super account

A court in tears, a close family torn apart and couple’s retirement fund gutted after a family member withdrew $432,000 from a joint superannuation account. Read the punishment

Kevin Rex Mason, 64, was sentenced after he withdrew $432,000 from a self managed superannuation fund he shared with a couple who he was related to.

Tears were shed in the Southport District Court on Wednesday March 19, as a man sentenced for fraud was locked up after a couple’s retirement savings were gutted and a once close family unit torn apart.

Kevin Rex Mason, 64, appeared in court, having pleaded guilty to fraud - dishonestly obtaining property from another by trust/direction/condition to a value of at least $100,000.

Mason, his wife and a couple who were family members, set up a company. They were all directors and equal shareholders for the company set up as a superannuation trustee proprietary company for the self managed superannuation fund the four were members of.

The court heard Mason transferred money out of the company bank account 27 times between March 13, 2019 and September 17, 2019, taking out $432,000.

The withdrawals were over $290,000 more than his own member balance in the super fund.

Mason spoke to his accountant on two occasions about accessing the super funds, and despite being told there were various rules for self-managed super funds, later disclosed he had withdrawn money and made a private investment.

The accountant told Mason to return the funds but he continued to make withdrawals.

Mason put $500 into the fund in late 2019 but made no further repayments.

The court heard the couple in the joint super fund with Mason each copped a $120,000 fine from the Australian Taxation Office as a result of his withdrawals and had to engage lawyers to get the fines reversed.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy summarised the victim impact statement from the couple now in their late sixties.

“There’s obviously the loss of the money and the continuing impact that will have on them,” she said. “It’s described this way in the statement: ‘the most challenging and saddest aspects is the fracture it’s caused to the once close-knit family unit.”

Mason’s defence barrister Matthew Hynes, instructed by Hannay Lawyers, told the court there was a gallery of people who were upset and in some cases, angry.

“There’s a lot of sadness and you could hear that before with people crying,” he said. “Sentences like this are inherently sad because people don’t get their money back in the grand scheme of things.”

Kevin Rex Mason, 64, was sentenced at Southport District Court after he withdrew $432,000 from a self managed superannuation fund he shared with a couple who he was related to. Picture: NewsWire / Richard Gosling

He told the court his client, going through untreated mental health problems, had been doing well in business but had debts to financial agencies.

Mr Hynes said Mason buried his head in the sand about his depression and tried to fix the issue in an inappropriate way in desperation.

He told the court Mason’s life has spiralled since the arrest and nothing the judge did would be worse than what Mason had already created for himself.

“To go from hero to his own family to zero is significant,” he said.

The court heard Mason’s marriage had broken down, family ostracized, he faced tax ramifications, was bankrupt and unable to make repayments.

Judge Nicole Kefford said Mason knew the victims were seeking to retire, and had less opportunity to replenish the funds and recover.

She noted Mason had no criminal history and had complied with his bail condition.

He was sentenced to four and a half years jail with a conviction recorded.

He is eligible for parole on March 18, 2026.