Former Billabong boss Matthew Perrin denies he wrote a confession letter

FALLEN Billabong boss Matthew Perrin has denied a letter confessing to forgery was written by him, as he faces accusations that documents “scream dishonesty”.

Matthew Perrin at the Brisbane Supreme Court. Photo: Jodie Richter

FALLEN Billabong boss Matthew Perrin has denied writing a letter confessing to forgery.

Perrin sent a text message to his father-in-law that saying he was “bitterly disappointed” after a sensational six-page “confession” letter was tendered in court in 2010.

“That was pretty devastating,” Perrin told the jury in his District Court trial in Brisbane today.

“It was splashed all across the papers.”

Perrin said he didn’t know who created the letter, but knows he didn’t write it, The Courier Mail reported.

The trial had heard Perrin handed his father-in-law, Lawrence Bricknell, a written and signed “confession” in 2009 stating he had been acting without his wife’s permission and took out the mortgage without consulting her.

But Perrin denies writing the statement and claims he didn’t read it before Ms Bricknell made him sign the document.

Prosecutor Glen Cash said Mr Bricknell physically recoiled in the witness box at the suggestion it had actually been his daughter who handed him the confession and Perrin himself admitted it contained business information his wife didn’t know about.

“(Mr Bricknell’s) involuntary reaction to it demonstrates better than any words he could have spoken just how ridiculous a proposition it was,” Mr Cash said.

“Either he is telling the truth or come next February he deserves an Oscar.”

In his closing submission on Friday, Mr Cash said Perrin’s forgery of his wife’s and brother’s signatures on a $13.5 million security “screamed dishonesty” and Perrin had totally fabricated his version of events to deceive the jury.

Perrin is on trial in the Brisbane District Court having pleaded not guilty to fraud and forgery charges after he allegedly faked signatures on bank documents in 2008.

Perrin this week admitted in his Brisbane District Court fraud trial to regularly signing his then-wife Nicole Bricknell’s name on legal documents but claimed she gave him permission.

Better times: Matthew Perrin and Nicole Bricknell.

The former CEO allegedly used their luxury family house in Surfers Paradise, which was in his wife’s name, as security for $13.5 million credit from the Commonwealth Bank to fund his failing business investments.

Prosecutor Glen Cash said Perrin must have spent real time and effort to mimic his wife’s signature because he knew it would be checked by the bank.

Mr Cash said Perrin also forged his brother Fraser’s signature as a witness without his permission to give the document a “veneer of authenticity”.

“Why would you hide that if you were acting honestly,” Mr Cash said. “The documents scream dishonesty.”

Defence barrister Andrew Hoare said Ms Bricknell was acting out of revenge and malice to get her ex-husband jailed.

Mr Hoare told the jury they should find Ms Bricknell’s testimony was dishonest because evidence points to her granting express authority to Perrin. “All things point to that conclusion,” Mr Hoare said.

Ms Bricknell testified on Wednesday that she “never, ever” gave Perrin permission to sign on her behalf.

“I always protected my children and I never, ever would have allowed him to sign my name on anything — that was not the right thing to do,” she said.

The jury is expected to begin its deliberations on Monday after Judge Julie Dick sums up the case.