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Speaker 1: Good afternoon, Alex. This information may be of some value

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Speaker 1: to you.

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Speaker 2: This is an email I received two weeks after launching

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Speaker 2: my podcast. Suddenly my investigation was going from a cold

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Speaker 2: one to a live one.

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Speaker 1: I am a semi retired solicitor in Ipswich. I have

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Speaker 1: acted for mister John Kerry Smith over the last four decades.

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Speaker 1: In the nineteen nineties, he was also defrauded by Alan Metcalf.

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Speaker 1: He lost a prox seven hundred thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: I know, I said false profit was the final episode,

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Speaker 2: but more tip offs have come in and I have

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Speaker 2: to share them with you. Something that's always bothered me

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Speaker 2: was what Alan got up to in Russia right after

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Speaker 2: the Soviet Union collapsed in the nineteen nineties. After perpetrating

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Speaker 2: a string of fraud on Australian soil, he'd apparently visited

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Speaker 2: Russia for something to do with setting up online businesses.

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Speaker 2: While he was there, I discovered a few fragments on

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Speaker 2: the Internet, as well as one anonymous person who was

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Speaker 2: afraid of Russian heavyweights tracking him down if he told

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Speaker 2: me too much.

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Speaker 3: In the nineties, he broke her to deal with Russia.

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Speaker 2: The last thing I need is one hundred and fifty

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Speaker 2: kg Russian knocking down my door. It never sat right

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Speaker 2: with me that I couldn't find out more.

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Speaker 3: My imagination was running.

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Speaker 2: Wild, picturing KGB agents and Cold War spies having tea

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Speaker 2: with Alan Metcalfe. And as it turns out, I'm not

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Speaker 2: far off at all. I'm Alex Turner Cohen, a finance

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Speaker 2: and investigative reporter from News dot com AU, and you're

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Speaker 2: listening to the Missing forty nine million. This is a

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Speaker 2: bonus episode leap of faith. I keep reading the solicitor's email,

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Speaker 2: which she sent an hour after I'd left the office

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Speaker 2: and gone home. A voice actor is reading it out.

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Speaker 1: I have acted for mister John Carey Smith over the

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Speaker 1: last four decades. In the nineteen nineties he was also

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Speaker 1: defrauded by Alan metcalf He lost to PROCs seven hundred

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars. John Smith started up one of the first,

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Speaker 1: if not the first, video chains, called Planes Video in

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Speaker 1: the eighties. He built enfranchised these stores in many states.

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Speaker 1: In Australia, Video Easy eventually took them over. When John sold,

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Speaker 1: Alan metcalf approached him to go into the business of

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Speaker 1: the Information super Highway, which he was told would emanate

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Speaker 1: out of Russia in the nineteen nineties. John advises that

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Speaker 1: Allan often spoke of God and had uncomfortable handholding sessions

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Speaker 1: at their meetings. I have contacted John, who now resides

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Speaker 1: near to Woomba, and he asked me to contact you

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Speaker 1: to let you know he is prepared to tell you

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Speaker 1: how Alan managed to defraud him too.

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Speaker 3: Do I want to talk to John Smith?

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Speaker 4: Hell?

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Speaker 2: Yes, so I reply and convinced him to let me

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Speaker 2: record our conversation over a video call. John is a

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Speaker 2: successful video mogul who in the nineteen ninety had recently

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Speaker 2: sold his business for lots of money. In a way,

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Speaker 2: it was kind of what Alan Metcalf had claimed he

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Speaker 2: strove to be, but Alan saw him as something else,

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Speaker 2: a prime target. I asked John how he heard of

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Speaker 2: Alan Metcalf.

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Speaker 5: I was good friends with his brother, Neil, and we

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Speaker 5: were pretty close friends for many years. And Alan appeared

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Speaker 5: on the scene and must have heard about me through

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Speaker 5: Neil and took it upon himself to come and visit me,

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Speaker 5: using Neil as an introduction, you know, so that I'd

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Speaker 5: feel comfortable talking to him. And so I thought of

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Speaker 5: his Neil's brother, he must be.

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Speaker 3: Okay, So tell me a bit about Neil. What was

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Speaker 3: he like, what did he do?

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Speaker 5: He had a factory in Carroll Park and manufactured bits

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Speaker 5: and pieces for electrical companies and things like that. He

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Speaker 5: was a successful businessman himself, but his brother in loved

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Speaker 5: on his doorstep with nowhere to live. And I'm not

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Speaker 5: quite sure why. I know his wife disliked Alan I

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Speaker 5: mentally she wanted him out of the place. She was

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Speaker 5: the main one who wanted him out. She'd just tell

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Speaker 5: me that he come and park himself in their place,

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Speaker 5: and they had no more privacy. They had her husband

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Speaker 5: and wife and a growing up boy. He got a

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Speaker 5: boy who was twenty odds or something living in their

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Speaker 5: house and they had no more privacy. And she wondered

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Speaker 5: why he wouldn't go, And she was the one that

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Speaker 5: actually told him me, he yes to go, him and

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Speaker 5: his wife and his son Clayton. And they stayed there

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Speaker 5: for quite a while, and in the meantime he found

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Speaker 5: out about me.

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Speaker 2: This was in nineteen ninety three, around the time when

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Speaker 2: Alan sold his penthouse along the Brisbane River and when

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Speaker 2: the Bank of New Zealand and someone else was suing

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Speaker 2: him for unpaid debts. Clearly something had gone wrong, but

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Speaker 2: John was willing to give him the benefit of the

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Speaker 2: doubt and entertained having a meeting with him in his office.

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Speaker 5: He was a dominant sort of a person, a very

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Speaker 5: dominant and he sort of took over whatever discussion or

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Speaker 5: meeting you had. When he set up a meeting, we

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Speaker 5: did start off with some prayers and you know, holding

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Speaker 5: hands and praying God. What have I just a cult

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Speaker 5: or something. It certainly made me feel uncomfortable, but I

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Speaker 5: was still a bearing one on this guy. He's a

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Speaker 5: brother with this flake that I know. He's a straight

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Speaker 5: shootor and a good guy. So I just sort of

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Speaker 5: brushed that aside virtually. But he did do it every

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Speaker 5: time he came. And then he had the audacity, like

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Speaker 5: down the track to set up his own meetings and

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Speaker 5: just walk in and use the boardroom that we had

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Speaker 5: at the time for his own meetings without even telling me.

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Speaker 5: They just loved there.

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Speaker 2: And in those meetings, Alan was breaking his latest stroke

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Speaker 2: of genius at the time, a plan to create internet

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Speaker 2: servers to connect businesses around the world.

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Speaker 5: The Internet was just starting, and that's the days when

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Speaker 5: it was all telephone hookups and you know, the phone

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Speaker 5: used to go at the hookup, and it wasn't actually

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Speaker 5: going in Australia as far as you could go on

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Speaker 5: and I like it is today, you couldn't go and

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Speaker 5: research something or there was just pictures because he showed

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Speaker 5: me some of the pictures from the US on his computer.

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Speaker 5: And he more or less suggested that there's a big

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Speaker 5: market in the business industry with people, and he particularly

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Speaker 5: emphasized Russia and America. That's where the connection is, That's

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Speaker 5: what he wanted to focus on.

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Speaker 2: John ended up trusting in Alan's vision and initially invested

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Speaker 2: said two hundred thousand dollars into the project called Alpha Info,

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Speaker 2: and part of this plan involved John using his factory

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Speaker 2: space to set up one of these internet servers.

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Speaker 5: He had a guy who came from the US and

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Speaker 5: he set up well, I thinks what they're called servers

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Speaker 5: of big machines and now he does the roof. The

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Speaker 5: way he initially spoke was that it would be up

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Speaker 5: and running and he'd start doing connecting some He wanted

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Speaker 5: to connect people in Russia that needed finance with Americans

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Speaker 5: or joint ownership or something like that in their businesses,

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Speaker 5: and he said that'll be up and running and that'll

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Speaker 5: play the bills in the meantime. But it never happened.

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Speaker 2: John was coaxed to put more and more money in

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Speaker 2: and it ended up totaling seven hundred thousand dollars according

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Speaker 2: to an inflation calculator, that's one point five million dollars today.

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Speaker 2: Alan said he needed the funds to travel to and

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Speaker 2: from Russia and the US to set up these internet links.

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Speaker 5: Traveled all over the world, him and his wife, and

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Speaker 5: as I said, he'd come back from well so called Russia.

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Speaker 5: But he may not have been in Russia, but he

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Speaker 5: said he had put these service in Russia too, in

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Speaker 5: the universities in Russia. I didn't know whether they were

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Speaker 5: going to Russia or Hungry. She came from Hungary, and

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Speaker 5: whether they were going spending time over there. I think

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Speaker 5: they did bring the mother over to Australia eventually. And

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Speaker 5: he was always in the US and always in Russia,

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Speaker 5: or so he said. Although he did live the high life,

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Speaker 5: they always looked like our first class. I couldn't imagine

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Speaker 5: him sitting in the economy anyway. Put it that way.

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Speaker 5: I don't think I couldn't imagine him sitting in with

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Speaker 5: the common people.

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Speaker 2: John tells me that Alan would always return from these

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Speaker 2: trips immaculately dressed, looks like a multi millionaire. Whenever they met,

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Speaker 2: I asked him about the gift that Alan brought back

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Speaker 2: from Russia.

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Speaker 5: Well, they come back and were they like a couple

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Speaker 5: of excited school children walking in And said, guess what?

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Speaker 5: And he pulled them out of this cossack and he

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Speaker 5: took me more James from Russia. And I looked at

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Speaker 5: it and one of the hats you put on your head,

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Speaker 5: and I couldn't believe it. I thought, you know that's hardboard,

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Speaker 5: that that's my money. You spent my money to buy

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Speaker 5: me a kid. I might add it's still around that cossack.

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Speaker 5: I haven't got it, but some friend of my wife's

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Speaker 5: got it.

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Speaker 2: Is quite honestly bizarre. Another quirky story to be added

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Speaker 2: to an already long list in the Escapades of Alan

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Speaker 2: metcalf and this incident really sowed the first seed of

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Speaker 2: doubt for John.

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Speaker 3: He'd had enough.

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Speaker 5: I said, I can't keep just turning out money, especially

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Speaker 5: when you' haven't started yet. And he said that it's

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Speaker 5: on the verge, and I said, no, I can't do

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Speaker 5: it anymore. It was Just after that that I started

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Speaker 5: think that this whole thing could be a scheme. He's

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Speaker 5: just taken a ride, or living the good life or whatever,

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Speaker 5: but it could be a scheme.

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Speaker 2: Alan ended up abandoning the service he'd left in John's factory.

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Speaker 2: John ripped them out, but couldn't sell them because no

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Speaker 2: one knew what they were. I asked John about his friend, Neil,

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Speaker 2: Alan's brother, who got him involved in this Russian Alpha

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Speaker 2: project in the first place, wondering if the relationship had

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Speaker 2: soured it all. John tells me that Neil was dying

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Speaker 2: by the time he thought he was being scammed. He

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Speaker 2: didn't want to bother him with it at all, and

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Speaker 2: Neil Metcalf passed away shortly after from a brain problem.

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Speaker 2: I'm still not exactly clear on what this Russia project was,

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Speaker 2: another hair brained project of Alan's, an early iteration of

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Speaker 2: Safe worlds, both of the above, or something else entirely so,

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Speaker 2: I asked John. He's not sure either, as it's been

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Speaker 2: so long.

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Speaker 5: This book here really explained it all as strictly private

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Speaker 5: and confidential, but I have no problem of sending it on.

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Speaker 2: It arrives in the mail a few days later. Fifty

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Speaker 2: pages in a sleek black folder. These are the original documents,

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Speaker 2: and they're in surprisingly good shape. I immediately take photos

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Speaker 2: of every page so that I'll have it saved digitally forever.

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Speaker 2: It stated March nineteen ninety seven and is titled Alpha

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Speaker 2: Information Limited Business Plan. I feel like I'm holding history

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Speaker 2: in my hands. Alan Metcalf would go on to make

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Speaker 2: many of these to create his Safe World scam Big

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Speaker 2: Information booklets filled with buzzwords. They were as impressive as

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Speaker 2: they were vague. Here's the artificial intelligence program recreating Alan's

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Speaker 2: voice to read out his Russian business.

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Speaker 6: Alpha Information Limited has been incorporated to establish and commercialize

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Speaker 6: global information trading throughout the online distribution of the world,

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Speaker 6: the Information super Highway. Our goal is to establish the

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Speaker 6: number one online business information system in the world.

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Speaker 2: Alan went on to say that this business, Alpha Info,

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Speaker 2: would generate up to one point two five billion dollars

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Speaker 2: a year and had been valued at ninety two million bucks.

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Speaker 2: He said it would be up and running by the

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Speaker 2: year two thousand, another promise that didn't end up eventuating,

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Speaker 2: and family was important to Alan. His plans involved creating

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Speaker 2: a role for his son.

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Speaker 6: The vice president will be responsible for sales and marketing

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Speaker 6: of the company's web servers. Clayton Metcalfe has been appointed

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Speaker 6: this position.

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Speaker 2: I look for references to Russia and there's a lot.

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Speaker 2: He wanted to start something called the Russian Business Exchange

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Speaker 2: and said it would establish reliable communication between Russia, the

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Speaker 2: US and Australia, and he'd actually got a deal with

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Speaker 2: the International University Moscow to make this happen. Allen was

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Speaker 2: very pleased with this university and the powerful people at

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Speaker 2: work in its halls, including people who'd been politicians and

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Speaker 2: KGB agents in the Soviet Union.

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Speaker 6: Administrators at the International University Moscow are also influential in

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Speaker 6: the Russian system. The rector of the university is the

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Speaker 6: former Minister for Education for the Soviet Union. The dean

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Speaker 6: of the business school for former Russian military officers is

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Speaker 6: an influential member of Russian Parliament, an active general in

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Speaker 6: the Russian Air Force, and the former deputy chairman of

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Speaker 6: the KGB. These connections provide the company with the access

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Speaker 6: to decision makers in the Russian economy that is needed

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Speaker 6: to establish the Russian Business Exchange.

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Speaker 2: Russia was key to this vision. It absolutely had to

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Speaker 2: be set up in Russia.

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Speaker 6: Russia is important to the development of Alpha Info's info

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Speaker 6: trading system because it offers low cost access to immediately

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Speaker 6: available large numbers of business opportunities that are of acute

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Speaker 6: interest to the business world.

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Speaker 2: What does Allan mean by low cost, Well, he wanted

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Speaker 2: free labor and he was getting it from Russian university

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Speaker 2: students who'd been soldiers under the communist regime.

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Speaker 6: The International University Moscow is seen by Alpha Info as

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Speaker 6: an ideal joint venture partner in Russia because it has

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Speaker 6: some four hundred business students, including an internal business school

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Speaker 6: for former Russian military officers that produces about fifty mature

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Speaker 6: MBA level students a year who are all seeking to

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Speaker 6: learn Western business world and find ways to participate in

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Speaker 6: the future of Russia. This pool of talent is important

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Speaker 6: to interface with the large number of Russian enterprises that

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Speaker 6: need our system and provide data input at relatively low

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Speaker 6: Russian rates. In return, the company provides the students with

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Speaker 6: a way of earning valuable income and career opportunities.

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Speaker 2: I wonder how much these business students were being paid,

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Speaker 2: if anything, and just how deep did Alan's ties to Russia. Go.

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Speaker 2: There's a rumor that indicates Allan's Russian links didn't end there.

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Speaker 2: Let's go back a moment. Someone had commented on a

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Speaker 2: social media post about the podcast that Alan had got

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Speaker 2: them for one hundred thousand dollars. This person, called Bryce Hutchinson,

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Speaker 2: was indeed another victim of Safe Worlds. We speak over

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Speaker 2: the phone and he tells me that he heard Alan

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Speaker 2: had brought in Russian developers to set up the safe

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Speaker 2: world website. I want to meet him. It turns out

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Speaker 2: he lives on the Central Coast, just an hour and

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Speaker 2: a half north of Sydney. So I drive up. Bryce's bearded,

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Speaker 2: a young dad, and he takes me to the front

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Speaker 2: room of his house. It doubles as a beauty salon

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Speaker 2: where his wife runs a business. One of the first

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Speaker 2: things I want to know is what he's heard about

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Speaker 2: these Russian programmers.

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Speaker 7: So he got something apparently I never saw it, but

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Speaker 7: he got some it guys that could encrypt when money

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Speaker 7: was transferred. There was no way of breaking into the system.

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Speaker 7: It was like having an encrypted phone now, you like.

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Speaker 7: And the big guys that were tech guys that got

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Speaker 7: into this, they saw the value in that because they

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Speaker 7: reckon it was like next to none.

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Speaker 8: The security was that.

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Speaker 7: Good for it that no one would be able to

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Speaker 7: match it.

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Speaker 2: And this was Russian people that he brought him.

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Speaker 8: You heard that or yeah, that's what I recall.

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Speaker 7: It was two guys that were tech guys that he'd

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Speaker 7: involved in the Safe Worlds for the security side of it.

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Speaker 7: For when you were doing like e transfers, your transfer

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Speaker 7: and currency or doing any of that like it was

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Speaker 7: it was literally unhackable.

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Speaker 3: There's not much more he can tell me about this.

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Speaker 2: Later I would go back to the former Safe Worlds employee,

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Speaker 2: Tarlie joy Grace to see if she knew anything about

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Speaker 2: these Russian hackers. She says it would have been before

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Speaker 2: her time working there, but says it is possible. Back

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Speaker 2: in Bryce's front room, I ask him more about the

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Speaker 2: one hundred thousand dollars investment he made into Safe Worlds.

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Speaker 2: And this is where things get even more interesting. Bryce

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Speaker 2: is the youngest victim I know of in this Safe

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Speaker 2: world scheme. He's only thirty three. He got involved with

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Speaker 2: Alan and Safeworlds when he was just seventeen years old.

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Speaker 7: So about two thousand and seven, my father, Steve Hutcheson

302
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Speaker 7: invested in the company called Safe Worlds. I was about

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Speaker 7: seventeen years old at the time. I initially invested ten

304
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Speaker 7: thousand dollars in when I was seventeen, and then I

305
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Speaker 7: put larger amounts in as I was over the age

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Speaker 7: of eighteen. I did an amount for sixty thousand, and

307
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Speaker 7: then there was share splits and I did more and

308
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Speaker 7: more and more.

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Speaker 8: Of my investment was pretty much one hundred thousand dollars plus.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a lot of money. So how were you

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Speaker 2: able to afford that at seventeen?

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Speaker 7: So I borrowed the money off my dad to start with,

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Speaker 7: and then one of my good mates actually got me

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Speaker 7: a start on a job in the Sydney Howard Bridge

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Speaker 7: from an instruction company and then yeah, I was on

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Speaker 7: pretty good money there and sort of just paid the

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Speaker 7: initial investment off pretty much over three years.

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Speaker 3: So were you paying it back to your dad like

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Speaker 3: with interest or how did that work?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 7: It actually was interested on It was ten percent interest

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Speaker 7: on the investment. I did sign something, just it was

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Speaker 7: more of an agreement of how I was paying the

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Speaker 7: money back and that he was going to charge me

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Speaker 7: the interest on the amount.

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Speaker 2: So if you reckon you invested one hundred thousand, you

327
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Speaker 2: would have paid about one hundred and ten thousand.

328
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Speaker 8: It was probably around one hundred and twenty.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, it was about one hundred and twenty thousand once

330
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Speaker 7: I finished paying it off.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and Bryce was slaving away trying to make a

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Speaker 2: dent in his debt, working sixty hour weeks to pay

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Speaker 2: it off.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, it was a fabuit of money to pay back.

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Speaker 7: Look at the time, I was potentially earning probably between

336
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Speaker 7: sort of sixteen hundred and two thousand dollars a week

337
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Speaker 7: after tax. Clear like I was getting pretty good money,

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Speaker 7: so I could afford it. But yeah, it's a lot

339
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Speaker 7: of money to you know what I mean. I didn't

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Speaker 7: even like all my mates had nice cars in that

341
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Speaker 7: when they were younger and bought stuff and I was

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Speaker 7: on a good job and I didn't even do that.

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Speaker 7: I left that for years because I was paying this off.

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Speaker 7: So yeah, it was things like that when you look

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Speaker 7: back on, Yeah, and a lot. It's definitely a lot

346
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Speaker 7: of money to lose, like nine hundred dollars a week,

347
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Speaker 7: I'm not even paying that for my mortgage now. I

348
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Speaker 7: still remember it clear as day, transferring in the last

349
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Speaker 7: thousand bucks or whatever it was, and pretty much saying

350
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Speaker 7: like haha, Like the whole thing's done, like it's paid off.

351
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Speaker 2: While there's no suggestion at all that Steve Hutchinson was

352
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Speaker 2: a scammer. He was a believer in Allan's message, meaning

353
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Speaker 2: Alan saw him as kind of a recruiter, even giving

354
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Speaker 2: him bonus shares.

355
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Speaker 7: At a certain point. There was a few people that

356
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Speaker 7: were closer to Alan that were actually making sort of money,

357
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Speaker 7: not money back, but they were getting shares.

358
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Speaker 8: So say, for example, they got someone to.

359
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Speaker 7: Invest fifty thousand dollars, they might have got like twenty

360
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,919
Speaker 7: five thousand shares. I wouldn't say you pressured me, but

361
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Speaker 7: he was like, oh mate, you're letting a good offer

362
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Speaker 7: go down, like all this sort of stuff. But I

363
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,879
Speaker 7: just feel like he'd gotten that many people invested, and

364
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Speaker 7: was that deep in it himself that even if someone

365
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Speaker 7: told him it was a scam.

366
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Speaker 8: He nearly wouldn't believe it.

367
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Speaker 7: Luck he nearly think it was They were stupid and

368
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Speaker 7: he's on the biggest thing.

369
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Speaker 2: But as we know, Safe Worlds never went anywhere, and

370
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Speaker 2: Bryce was soon regretting the mega investment he'd made into it.

371
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Speaker 2: Tell me a bit about how this changed your relationship

372
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Speaker 2: with your father.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, look, I wouldn't say it was just Safe Worlds. Look,

374
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Speaker 7: I don't know, I don't we haven't had a real

375
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Speaker 7: good relationship. But obviously, yeah, that was a pretty big

376
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,320
Speaker 7: blow with it as well, because I sort of, look,

377
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Speaker 7: I know there's risks in everything, but I took a

378
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Speaker 7: pretty big.

379
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Speaker 8: Risk in it.

380
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Speaker 2: When's the last time you spoke to him?

381
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,760
Speaker 7: Probably a couple of years ago now briefly over emails,

382
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:22,440
Speaker 7: just over other stuff. But yeah, besides that, yeah, I

383
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,120
Speaker 7: don't bring up the Safe Worlds to the thing at all.

384
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Speaker 7: He hasn't got a lot of people around him, Like

385
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Speaker 7: he's what in his late sixties now, he's got grandkids

386
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,639
Speaker 7: he's never seen. So he's seen my son when he

387
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:34,720
Speaker 7: was probably two or three years old.

388
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Speaker 2: Bryce reckens his father invested heavily into Safe Worlds, like

389
00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,199
Speaker 2: more than a million dollars, but I can't verify this.

390
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:47,040
Speaker 2: I contact Steve Hutchinson afterwards to get his side to

391
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,600
Speaker 2: all of this, and he's yet to respond. Bryce puts

392
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:55,640
Speaker 2: me in touch with another Central Coast local who he

393
00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:00,280
Speaker 2: believes invested at Steve Hutchinson's urging. It's another case of

394
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,400
Speaker 2: family ties, the father and son connection pulling someone into

395
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Speaker 2: Alan's orbit.

396
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Speaker 9: My name is Glenn MacFarlane and I'm based in pel

397
00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:11,800
Speaker 9: Beach on the Central Coast. I'm fifty two years old

398
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Speaker 9: and I have my own building business.

399
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Speaker 2: We speak in his sprawling kitchen, his cattle dog watching on.

400
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,160
Speaker 2: There's a ute parked in his driveway.

401
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:22,800
Speaker 3: The house fields.

402
00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,359
Speaker 2: Newly renovated, with a big open space living room and

403
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:26,800
Speaker 2: a massive stone bench top.

404
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:27,560
Speaker 3: We speak over.

405
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Speaker 2: Glenn tells me he built it all himself. It was

406
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Speaker 2: through this line of work that he met Steve Hutchinson.

407
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Speaker 9: Steve was a brick cleaner and he was a contractor

408
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,639
Speaker 9: to my father, who was a builder. He worked for

409
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:47,440
Speaker 9: my father. So yeah, I knew Steve when I was

410
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,360
Speaker 9: an apprentice to my father and met him a long,

411
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 9: long time ago. I remember Steve being a very motivated guy.

412
00:22:55,560 --> 00:23:00,040
Speaker 9: He was very very driven and positive personality. So I

413
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 9: trusted in that, you know, of what he had researched

414
00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 9: and what he knew about it, and just him as

415
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,680
Speaker 9: a person, you know, a bit of a leap of faith. Really,

416
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 9: just trusted in Steve as a friend.

417
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Speaker 3: How much would you say you put in?

418
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 9: Was fifty thousand dollars. Just finished building my own home

419
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,280
Speaker 9: and had a mortgage, so there was a lot of

420
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Speaker 9: money at the time.

421
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,600
Speaker 2: Steve Hutchinson was always upfront about the commission he received

422
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Speaker 2: for recruiting people to the Safe World's cause.

423
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Speaker 9: He wasn't being paid cash, but was being given shares

424
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Speaker 9: for his contribution to bring people into the venture.

425
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,399
Speaker 2: Glenn also believes that Steve put in a substantial chunk

426
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Speaker 2: of his personal fortune into the Safe World's project.

427
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 9: I know it's an excessive a mian dollars that he'd

428
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 9: personally put in. I'm not one hundred percent sure of that,

429
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,960
Speaker 9: but he sort of made made me aware that that

430
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:55,400
Speaker 9: was his investment in it.

431
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,560
Speaker 2: Apparently Steve had made some good money from other investments

432
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,720
Speaker 2: and that went towards Safe Worlds. He also had a

433
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:06,159
Speaker 2: wealthy partner at the time who chipped in as well.

434
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,560
Speaker 2: They're no longer together. She's since remarried and she declines

435
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 2: to speak with me. It also put a strain in

436
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,240
Speaker 2: Glenn's friendship with Steve. In fact, he says they don't

437
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 2: talk anymore.

438
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,840
Speaker 9: Very pushy. Yeah, he's very pushy with his belief in it,

439
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,959
Speaker 9: so the point where his partner or ex partner now

440
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,600
Speaker 9: was quite embarrassed that he pushed it so hard onto me.

441
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,960
Speaker 9: Not so much door knocking, but yeah, just very very

442
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 9: pushy on the phone, and you know, was pitched that

443
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,200
Speaker 9: I'd be crazy if I sort of didn't get involved

444
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 9: in that ground floor opportunity.

445
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,200
Speaker 2: As I leave his home, I can't help but feel

446
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,280
Speaker 2: that Steve Hutchinson's name seems familiar. So I go back

447
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 2: through my notes and I'm right, this isn't the first

448
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,440
Speaker 2: time someone has mentioned him to me. Do you remember

449
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 2: that retired couple Kim and Roy, who gave Alan some

450
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 2: of their money and then spent years helping him beta

451
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,119
Speaker 2: test the product. I spoke to them in episode three.

452
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 2: This might help you remember.

453
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 10: I think the worst part for me personally was when

454
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 10: he promoted for us to go out and find local

455
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,600
Speaker 10: businesses and try and interest them in getting their own channel.

456
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,400
Speaker 10: And I did do that. And I'm an introvert and

457
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 10: a shy person, and I don't talk much, so this

458
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 10: was a big effort for me. But I did it

459
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,520
Speaker 10: because I wanted to get prosperity for our family, and

460
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 10: at the time I still believed that it was happening,

461
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 10: so I involved a lot of people and tried to

462
00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 10: interest other people in joining in. It was embarrassing when

463
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:46,440
Speaker 10: I look back.

464
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,200
Speaker 4: He was comparing himself to people like Edison and Ironsky,

465
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 4: you know, and people that had discovered penicilla, and you know,

466
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 4: like it was made in comparison that he had, just

467
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 4: as a normal man, had discovered this law of thought

468
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,359
Speaker 4: and claimed that, you know, he was the savior of

469
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 4: the or could be the savior of the world if

470
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 4: it all turned out right for him, you know, and

471
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 4: for us.

472
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 2: Well, when I listened back to my interview with them,

473
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 2: it was Steve Hutchinson who introduced them to Safe Worlds.

474
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,119
Speaker 2: Steve was a customer of theirs, and he convinced them

475
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,160
Speaker 2: to get involved. They were encouraged by the fact he'd

476
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,399
Speaker 2: got his own son to invest.

477
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,679
Speaker 10: I know this fella, Steve's his name, first name. He

478
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 10: got his son, or so he told us. I think

479
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 10: his son invested quite a lot of money in it too,

480
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 10: so you know, he was involving family investing in it.

481
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 4: So he's partner of the time.

482
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 5: She invested money as well.

483
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,280
Speaker 2: He was always kind of like Alan in a way,

484
00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:57,120
Speaker 2: chasing money, chasing the next kind of.

485
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 10: Optionity introduced us to it, but it wasn't just this company.

486
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 10: He also introduced us to others shares, other share companies,

487
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 10: so he wasn't just sort of fixated on safeworlds. He

488
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 10: was looking for opportunities that might pay off.

489
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:14,879
Speaker 2: Then the Safeworld's platform started to falter.

490
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,199
Speaker 10: I did try and reach out to him.

491
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,280
Speaker 2: At one stage, Kim showed me a message she sent

492
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 2: to Steve Hutchinson which is still unanswered to this day.

493
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 2: So he was one of Alan's super distributors, bringing people

494
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 2: into the safeworld scheme from all over the Central Coast,

495
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 2: much like Rodney McKay, the guy who raised fifteen million

496
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,200
Speaker 2: dollars for Alan over in Western Australia and who invested

497
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,399
Speaker 2: one point five million dollars of his own money into

498
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,639
Speaker 2: the scheme as well. Most of the tip offs I

499
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 2: receive actually relate to rod McKay. It's all stuff I

500
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 2: already know or things I can't verify. But one email does.

501
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 3: Catch my eye. This is what it says.

502
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 2: A member of my family was is in this scam.

503
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 2: Apparently he was one of the first and contributed to

504
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,959
Speaker 2: the loss of my grandmother's farm and all her life savings,

505
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,960
Speaker 2: a very distressing and damaging influence on our extended family.

506
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,439
Speaker 2: Thank you for investigating this. It would be nice to

507
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,359
Speaker 2: know where that bastard put the money. I look forward

508
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,439
Speaker 2: to pissing on his grave. The reference to a farm

509
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 2: immediately makes me think of rod And as it turns out,

510
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,560
Speaker 2: this was a relative of Rod's, someone in the McKay clan.

511
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,560
Speaker 2: He doesn't want to share his name, but is happy

512
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,159
Speaker 2: for me to record this conversation.

513
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 11: I think Rodney was always looking for that big thing,

514
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,280
Speaker 11: you know, the big payday investment, you know, something that

515
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 11: goes really really well. But it just seemed everything that

516
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,360
Speaker 11: he tried just never worked out, never panned out.

517
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 2: It seems like a parallel of Steve and even Allan himself,

518
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 2: and Rodney then came into a lot of money to

519
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 2: make his dreams more possible.

520
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 11: The farm to begin with, so my grandfather died in

521
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 11: his early sixties. He had a form of cancer, and

522
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 11: it's my grandmother's farm then, and Grannie she ended up

523
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 11: there was a lot of the property, was quite a

524
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,040
Speaker 11: large property, and so they sublet or they let out

525
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 11: a lot of the fields to other farmers in the area.

526
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 11: Uncle Rodney had brought out or taken his share of

527
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 11: the farm, and then he'd solved that at some stage

528
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,360
Speaker 11: what I thought is that parts of the farm had

529
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 11: been sold off to help. I'm assuming the money went

530
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 11: to my grandmother in terms of living costs and just

531
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 11: running costs of the property.

532
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 2: Rodney put part of the inheritance into Safe Worlds instead,

533
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 2: according to my source.

534
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,400
Speaker 11: In essence, he was probably trying to do the right

535
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 11: thing by his family. But there was no discussion about

536
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 11: what to do with the money from the farm or whatever.

537
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 11: It was just like, he's going into this. I questioned

538
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,720
Speaker 11: from the start, but where's where is this information? Where

539
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 11: is it written?

540
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:53,960
Speaker 8: Where is it?

541
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 11: Because I was at the same time i'd been when

542
00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:58,960
Speaker 11: we'd heard about it, I was doing my own research

543
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 11: just to try to find out something about it, and

544
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 11: all over found was, you know, like near little snippets

545
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 11: of information about Alan Metcalf and you know, he's he's deluded,

546
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 11: claim that ai he found in the Bible, and yeah,

547
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 11: that sort of rubbish. So and as soon as I

548
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 11: saw that, as soon as I'd read that, I said

549
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 11: to mom and Dad and my brothers, this is a

550
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,880
Speaker 11: scam or this doesn't sound right. As soon as people

551
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 11: start talking about God being the or the Bible being

552
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,440
Speaker 11: the source of this information, it's just like, oh, yeah,

553
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 11: this is wrong.

554
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,960
Speaker 2: Losing the farm and the inheritance was a financial blow

555
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,680
Speaker 2: for the family, but it was also emotionally devastating for

556
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:41,400
Speaker 2: them and for his grandma.

557
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 11: I always just thought she was going to stay at

558
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 11: the farm forever. Before grandmother she she didn't really want

559
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,239
Speaker 11: to leave the home. She'd been born and raised in

560
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,360
Speaker 11: that region, that area. The property of her parents had

561
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:55,960
Speaker 11: been just down the road, and there are all these

562
00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,600
Speaker 11: old family connections and houses and whatnot all over the shop,

563
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 11: so she really didn't want to leave.

564
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,160
Speaker 2: She had to leave Geraldon and move to a nursing

565
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,440
Speaker 2: home south of Perth for people with literally nothing left.

566
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,120
Speaker 11: The home is almost brand new, the care is really good,

567
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:17,880
Speaker 11: facilities are just great. But the only way you can

568
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 11: get into these places is if you have absolutely nothing.

569
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 11: So no money, no property, no investments, nothing, You're on.

570
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:28,920
Speaker 11: It's called the Little Sisters of the Poor because these

571
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 11: people are exceptionally poor.

572
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 2: There's no suggestion that Rod was trying to scam anybody,

573
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,440
Speaker 2: but as we've reported in past episodes, he was a

574
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 2: true believer. To say it's left the McKay's with a

575
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 2: sour taste in their mouths is an understatement. There's a

576
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,840
Speaker 2: deep schism in their extended family, one they'll all probably

577
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:50,800
Speaker 2: take to the grave.

578
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 11: I'm upset and angry. I'm really angry, and I'm annoyed

579
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 11: with Rodney because you know, at the time this is

580
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 11: all happening, we're out of like, you know, we're not

581
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 11: fourteen or fifteen her old kids that maybe the opinion's

582
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 11: not as valued as much. But we were adults. You know,

583
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 11: we're working with professionals, We've lived overseas, we've experienced a

584
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 11: lot in life, and then to hear that this is

585
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,959
Speaker 11: something based in God and the Bible and all that

586
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:21,520
Speaker 11: sort of rubbish, it's just like devastating. I can't recall

587
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 11: speaking with Rodney. Oh so maybe ten years or so

588
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 11: before you'd see him, you know, three or four times

589
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 11: a year at least, you know, at family events or

590
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 11: catch ups, Christmas, that sort of stuff. My aunt was very,

591
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 11: very upset about it because it was there was no consultation.

592
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,120
Speaker 11: My mum was really upset as well, but Mum doesn't

593
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 11: like to get involved in conflict. My dad is still

594
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 11: really angry about it, to the point that he wouldn't

595
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 11: forgive Rodney for what's happened. He won't I don't think

596
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 11: there won't be any forgiveness there from my dad.

597
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 2: So that olultimately is Alan's legacy, broken families, broken promises.

598
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 2: Instead of turning water into wine, he turned millions into nothing.

599
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 2: His followers believed in him his vision. Now some of

600
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,880
Speaker 2: them might never be able to afford money to pay

601
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,480
Speaker 2: for their retirements, or their kids' educations or the holiday

602
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 2: of a lifetime. Alan scam is over, but there's always

603
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,800
Speaker 2: another scam about to begin, So be careful out there.

604
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,560
Speaker 2: I'm your host, Alex Turner Cohen and this was the

605
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 2: Missing forty nine million. Thanks for listening. Head to news

606
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 2: dot com dot au to read more of my.

607
00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 3: Reporting on this story. Do you know more?

608
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 2: Get in touch through our dedicated tip inbox Missing Millions

609
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,360
Speaker 2: at news dot com dot au or contact me directly

610
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,960
Speaker 2: on Alex dot Turner Dashcohen at news dot com dodau

611
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,560
Speaker 2: you or look me up on Twitter to get my details.

612
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 2: I'm your host, Alex Turner Cohen. Nina Young is the

613
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:11,440
Speaker 2: executive producer, sound design and editing by Tiffany Dimack. Our

614
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:16,280
Speaker 2: editorial director is Dan Box. Grant McAvaney is our legal advisor,

615
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,879
Speaker 2: and Kerry Warren is the editor of news, dot com,

616
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:19,319
Speaker 2: dot au,