On 12 March 2018, Adrian James Campbell appeared before an Australian court and entered guilty pleas to eleven charges under section 151(1)(h) of the Australian Consumer Law. The charges related to making false or misleading representations in the conduct of a business known as Eco Boss Pty Ltd, based on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
The outcome was severe by any measure of Australian consumer-law enforcement:
- $85,000 in fines — one of the highest ACL penalty outcomes recorded in Queensland magistrates courts for that period
- $102,200 in compensation orders — representing money owed to real, identified victims who had been misled
- A recorded conviction on eleven separate charges
What the Charges Mean
Section 151(1)(h) of the Australian Consumer Law makes it a criminal offence to make false or misleading representations in trade or commerce. This is not a civil matter. It is a criminal prosecution, requiring proof beyond reasonable doubt that the representations were false or misleading and were made intentionally.
Eleven separate charges indicate eleven separate instances of conduct — eleven different customers or transactions in which false or misleading representations were made. This is not a single error of judgment. It is a course of conduct.
"The conduct was calculated and deliberate. This was a scam." — Description drawn from contemporaneous reporting on the Eco Boss proceedings
From Solar to Construction
By 2018, the business activity associated with Campbell had shifted from the solar energy sector — where he had faced conviction in 2015 — into what appears to have been a construction or renovation-related enterprise operating under the Eco Boss brand.
This business name rotation is a pattern that consumer advocates and regulatory bodies consistently identify in serial operators: when one business attracts regulatory action, a new business name is adopted, and the same conduct resumes under a different banner.
The Victims
The compensation order of $102,200 represents money owed to people who were misled by Eco Boss. These were likely Gold Coast residents — small business operators, homeowners, or families — who made financial decisions based on representations they were told were true. They were not.
A compensation order does not guarantee payment. Recovering those funds may require further enforcement action if the convicted person does not pay voluntarily. Whether the $102,200 was in fact paid is not established in the publicly available court records consulted for this article.
The Pattern: 2012, 2015, 2018
| Year | Entity | Charges | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | — | Fraud offences | Conviction recorded |
| 2015 | International Solar Solutions | 5 × ACL (failing to supply) | $10,000 fine + $18,355 restitution |
| 2018 | Eco Boss Pty Ltd | 11 × ACL (false representations) | $85,000 fine + $102,200 compensation |
Note for investors: A guilty plea is a formal admission of guilt before a court of law. The eleven Eco Boss charges were not dismissed, not negotiated to civil penalties, and not acquitted. They were admitted. Each one represents a separate act of false or misleading representation, each with a real victim.
What Happened After 2018
The 2018 Eco Boss convictions did not result in a cessation of commercial activity. By 2026, Adrian James Campbell was associated with operations including Kinnara Capital and Kinnara Asia, conducting land development and investment marketing activities targeting Australian investors — from a base in Thailand. He had commenced Federal Court proceedings in Australia. He had apparently built a new business with new clients.
This is not unusual for serial operators. Domestic regulatory action, even when it results in significant fines and compensation orders, rarely prevents a determined individual from resuming commercial activity — particularly when that activity subsequently shifts offshore, beyond the easy reach of domestic regulators.
Source: This article draws on publicly available court records including the judgment of Justice Derrington in Campbell v McIntyre (No 2) [2026] FCA 1279, conviction records confirmed by Adrian James Campbell in a corrected affidavit filed 10 August 2026, and the book Fraud Records and Scam Warnings: The Adrian James Campbell Case Files by Evan Mercer (2026). Nothing in this article constitutes legal or financial advice.