New Zealand businessman Sir Ron Brierley has been charged after allegedly being found in possession of child abuse material, New South Wales police have said.
In August, Sydney detectives began an investigation into the possession of child abuse material in the local area, and “following extensive inquiries”, 82-year-old Brierley was stopped at Sydney international airport at 6.30am on Tuesday by Australian Border Force officials.
NSW police said in a statement: “The man’s carry-on luggage was searched before the contents of his laptop and electronic storage devices were reviewed, which are alleged to have contained large amounts of child abuse material.”
The man, from Point Piper, was taken to Mascot police station and charged with six counts of possessing child abuse material, police said.
Brierley has been granted conditional bail and is scheduled to appear at Downing Centre local court on 10 February 2020.
The tycoon retired from his final boardroom role in June this year at the age of 81 following a career as a corporate raider that stretched back to the 1960s. He was made a knight in 1988, for services to business management and the community.
He founded his first major enterprise, Brierley Investments, in New Zealand in 1961 using money raised from a stock tips newsletter he ran.
In the 1980s, his attention turned to Australia.
Over the following decades his corporate vehicles – Industrial Equity Limited and Guiness Peat Group – launched a series of attacks on some of Australia’s best-known companies, including brewer Carlton & United and lotteries group Tatts.
His aggressive shareholder activism towards boards, which frequently involved public attacks on under-performing directors, shook up what had been a relatively genteel and clubby business community.
New Zealand police refused to comment on whether they had played a role in the investigation.
