For years, Adriana Benhamou Weiss was a fixture on Sydney’s social scene, with the glamorous inside designer travelling the world, attending high-profile occasions and rubbing shoulders with elite purchasers.
She adorned the mansions of Australian multi-millionaires, designing inns and condominium developments in Paris, Moscow, Italy and Dubai.
However now the 40-year-old splits her time between Australia and Paris, the place she has needed to begin contemporary and launch a brand-new international design agency after being banned from working in her house nation.
Adriana Benhamou Weiss has been convicted of falsifying her enterprise’ financial institution statements
But it surely would not cease the previous Sydney socialite from dwelling an expensive life in Paris
Following the collapse of the corporate she shared together with her mom (Moroccan-born stylist and entertainer mom Helene), Benhamou Designs Pty Ltd, Adriana went to Paris.
Her mom rebranded herself as Helene in Paris, sharing movies to YouTube singing French romance classics.
Weiss rapidly adopted her mom and began Iconique Studio – a Paris-based worldwide design agency.
The opposite half of her time is spent visiting her kids in Australia.
Whereas she could also be again to dwelling her lifetime of luxurious on the opposite facet of the planet, Weiss has suffered a fall of grace from the times she spent on Sydney’s social scene.
The socialite was primarily based in Sydney’s japanese suburbs, with mates like house mortgage multi-millionaire ‘Aussie’ John Symond’s spouse Amber Symond and rich jeweller Alina Barlow.
Adriana Benhamou Weiss (proper) now runs a enterprise in Paris. Image: Instagram
Weiss suffered a fall of grace from the times she spent on Sydney’s social scene. Image: Instagram
She additionally appeared in Australian Vogue and was usually noticed out with Ellie Aitken and Roxy Jacenko.
The downfall started in 2018 when the 40-year-old’s enterprise, Benhamou Designs Pty Ltd, went into liquidation.
Ferrier Hodgson was appointed as liquidator, with a report from October 2018 alleging Weiss attributed the failure of the corporate to ‘Australian Taxation Workplace default assessments and poor enterprise administration’.
On the time, the enterprise owed the ATO greater than $3.9 million, with complete liabilities listed at greater than $8.1 million.
The previous socialite shares her work and life on Instagram. Image: Instagram
The report discovered the corporate failed on account of ‘poor monetary management together with lack of information, poor strategic administration, insufficient money circulate or excessive case use, buying and selling losses and vital disputes with clients and suppliers’.
‘In my view, the director has permitted the corporate to incur money owed within the order of $7.5 million at a time when the corporate was bancrupt,’ the report said.
Issues acquired even worse for Weiss when she was charged with 12 counts of falsifying enterprise information after she directed an worker to photoshop financial institution transactions on six events over 4 currencies equal to a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars}.
The Australian Securities and Investments Fee performed the investigation in opposition to the socialite earlier than she was ultimately charged.
Adriana Benhamou Weiss’ Sydney-based enterprise, Benhamou Designs Pty Ltd, went into liquidation in 2018. Pictured at Downing Native Courtroom
She ultimately pleaded responsible to 6 of the costs, with court docket paperwork revealing the offending occurred over a month in 2016 – two years earlier than the corporate went bust.
The glamorous former socialite fronted Sydney’s District Courtroom on Friday after flying in from Paris the place the court docket was advised she employed a junior employee in 2015 who she later requested to assist her within the offending.
Choose William Fitzsimmons advised the court docket Weiss, because the director of the enterprise, entered into an settlement to assemble a brand new workplace area and residential workplace in Sydney for DEC Providers.
She promised she might present a ‘cheaper service’ over her opponents as a result of she owned a furnishings producer and distribution firm in Dubai.
She was charged with 12 counts of falsifying monetary information. Pictured at Downing Native Courtroom
The court docket was advised work instantly began on the undertaking, however the constructing firm concerned rapidly revealed it had by no means obtained fee for the demolition of the positioning.
Weiss ordered the junior worker to Photoshop faux NAB fee affirmation receipts, displaying transactions from her enterprise to suppliers and contractors which had been false.
She additionally took cash which purchasers had paid her for work and put them on her private bank card, the court docket was advised.
In a gathering with DEC Providers, Weiss confirmed the faux fee transactions to show funds had been being made.
Choose Fitzsimmons advised the court docket the junior staffer stated it was her first job out of uni and she or he felt ‘compelled’ to finish the work for her boss.
‘She procured a younger worker to interact within the conduct, which makes it extra critical,’ he stated.
Weiss pleaded responsible to 6 of the costs and was given good behaviour and ordered to pay a $20,000 high quality. Pictured at Downing Native Courtroom
‘They had been elaborate forgeries of official NAB paperwork, which she offered in an effort to deceive others.’
The court docket was advised that in the course of the interval of offending, Benhamou Designs had an consumption of $360,450 from purchasers.
Courtroom paperwork revealed about $156,000 had been funnelled straight into Weiss’ private bank card and was spent on inns, garments and different private objects.
The choose stated Weiss’ conduct was ‘elaborate and calculated’ as she had enlisted the companies of a younger worker who was ‘susceptible and prone’ to carry out duties of her employer.
‘Her function was the primary job since finishing her research and she or he thought of it was acceptable; she stated if she refused to do it, she wouldn’t have been given initiatives and would’ve been handled in another way,’ Choose Fitzsimmons stated.
Weiss apologised to everybody ‘affected by’ her conduct in a press release. Pictured at Downing Native Courtroom
He stated the offending is extra critical than if Weiss had carried out it alone.
The choose stated Weiss had tried to keep away from accountability after substantial funds had been paid to her enterprise in good religion.
Weiss was sentenced to an combination time period of imprisonment for 10 months however was instantly launched on a recognisance launch order on the situation she is of fine behaviour for 18 months and pays a high quality of $20,000.
In a press release, Weiss apologised to everybody ‘affected by’ her conduct.
‘I’m grateful to the Courtroom for acknowledging my private circumstances in its sentencing in the present day,’ she stated.
‘I’m dedicated to shifting ahead each personally and professionally with positivity and gratitude.’
