Convicted fraudster appeals guilty plea
The self proclaimed Australian leader of the Jewish Defence League is contesting his conviction for fraud in the Queensland Court of Appeal.
Michael John O’Hara, 64, also known as Zeev Gideon Korwan, was sentenced to 10 years in jail in April 2012 when he pleaded guilty to fraud in the Brisbane District Court according to a report in the Brisbane Courier Mail.
A former Gold Coast teacher, O’Hara was convicted in 2002 in Victoria for trying to sell two handguns he claimed had been used in the suicide of Adolf Hitler. He created documents to support his claim including documents he had stolen from official archives in Germany and received a suspended six month jail term for dishonesty.
Between June 2005 and September 2006 he swindled over $2million from more than 70 investors in fake companies. He has served his jail sentence but has now appealed the conviction for a second time.
O’Hara now claims that at the time of his conviction he was on medication for delusions, for which he had self medicated by doubling the dose. This caused him to have had a seizure and “blanked out” when he pleaded guilty to fraud in 2012.
O’Hara represented himself in the Queensland Court of Appeal and asked for an extension. The Crown argued that O’Hara had lost one appeal and that the dismissal should stand unless he had different grounds. The Court of Appeal reserved its decision.
