Extradited former adviser faces court over alleged $4m theft

Marion Joan Pearson appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court after several years of appeals against her extradition. New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled against Pearson’s final appeal against her extradition in May this year.

Pearson and her company, Colisa, were authorised representatives of Ballast Financial Management from 1 November 2007 until 30 October 2013, when Ballast revoked the authorisation, and the charges relate to conduct that took place during this period.

ASIC permanently banned Pearson from the financial services industry in November 2015 after an investigation into her conduct in advising SMSF clients.

Noting at the time that Pearson was already residing in New Zealand, ASIC said its investigation found she had created documents to disguise the fact that client money was paid into Colisa’s bank account without their knowledge or authority, as well as misleading clients to believe funds had been placed in investments, despite not having done so.

In December 2018, the Magistrates Court of Western Australia issued a warrant for Pearson’s arrest on 136 charges of theft in the range of $4 million in total, which the New Zealand District Court endorsed in 2019, at which point she was arrested, though was granted bail and interim name suppression.

The District Court ruled in October 2021 that Pearson was eligible for extradition, rejecting her arguments that extradition would be “unjust or oppressive due to the time that had passed since the alleged offences”, and that a less “coercive alternative” – namely participating remotely from New Zealand via summons – should be pursued.

It also refused her application for permanent name suppression, concluding that the “extreme hardship threshold was not met”.

Over the subsequent years, the case has been the subject of multiple appeals to a variety of different courts in New Zealand, including the High Court, Court of Appeal, and finally the Supreme Court.

Pearson appeared before the Perth Magistrates Court on 21 August 2025 in relation to the 136 counts of stealing allegedly committed between 6 January 2009 and 25 October 2013.

Under section 378 of the Criminal Code (WA), the maximum penalty for each offence of stealing is 10 years’ imprisonment if the property has been received by the offender with a power of attorney for the disposition thereof.

Pearson was remanded in custody until the next court date at Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on 1 October 2025.

The matter is being prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions following an investigation and referral by ASIC.