Advertising industry 'parasite' pleads guilty

James Burns has pleaded guilty in the Wellington High Court to his part in a false invoicing scam which sold advertising in magazines that were either never printed, or the number printed and circulated was exaggerated. Photo / Thinkstock

A man accused of running an advertising scam and labelled a "parasite" has pleaded guilty today on multiple fraud charges.

Anthony John Hendon, 54, pleaded guilty in the High Court at Wellington to two dozen charges of reproducing documents with intent to cause loss.

Hendon was among a group arrested two years ago for selling ads in magazines that allegedly did not exist or were only produced in tiny numbers.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said the scam involved Hendon copying pre-existing ads from genuine publications, then promising prospective advertisers he'd print and distribute their ads.

"To encourage purchase, the magazines were titled in a way that suggested support of worthwhile causes such as road safety, parenting or family support," the SFO said in a statement.

The agency said today's 24 guilty pleas were a major breakthrough in the long-running case.

At a pre-trial hearing in December, the Crown outlined allegations Hendon would cold-call advertisers and confuse them into believing they'd already committed to buying ads.

Prosecutor Grant Burston said the defendants were "parasites on the legitimate commercial advertising industry".

Yet Hendon's lawyer Chris Nicholls said although his client may have engaged in dishonest conduct, he had no intention of defrauding anyone.

"It only becomes fraud if they didn't intend to deliver on what they said they would," Mr Nicholls said at the earlier hearing. "If they did intend to deliver, it doesn't matter if they used deceptive techniques."

Mr Hendon was remanded on bail and will be sentenced on April 1.