WEBVTT - Mother Mary | 5 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:10.720 Yeah, Hi, Mary, I think we spoke. 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:15.280 Yeah, how did it go so wrong to have a 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.160 journalist knocking on your door on a quiet Gold Coast 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:22.080 street in the middle of the day. There's someone else 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.040 tangled in the complicated web of Allan Metcalf. They've been 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:30.200 on the periphery of my investigation until now. It's time 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:34.360 she takes center stage. Buckle in, because this story is 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:38.920 about to go from the already pretty bizarre to outright ridiculous. 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:43.120 I'm Alex Turner Cohen, a finance and investigative reporter from 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.640 news dot com DoD AU, and you're listening to the 0:00:45.680 --> 0:01:07.479 Missing forty nine Million. This is episode five, Mother Mary. 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.880 After Allan's death, his followers feared their investment was gone, 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.560 all forty nine million dollars of it. They expected the 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.440 business to shut down forever. But then Alan's wife, Mary 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.680 Metcalf took over. They went back to hoping and praying 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.880 that the hard earned money they'd handed over would once 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.240 again be returned to them at a hefty profit. But 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.640 what happened afterwards? And can Mary help with the search 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:36.240 for the money? 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:39.920 But the time will come when I will get out 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.800 there and promote all the things that Alan had achieving 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:46.479 true artificial intelligence when the. 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:47.200 Time is right. 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.960 This is Mary speaking at her husband's funeral in twenty seventeen, 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.680 when she was sixty eight years old. Her son Clayton 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:57.640 Metcalf was also going to help out. 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:03.000 Clayton I pledged we commit to commercialize this technology and 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.200 take it to the world to fulfill his dream. I 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.040 know that this sounds impossible, but Jesus said, with men, 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.919 it's impossible, but not with God. For with God all 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:18.720 things are possible. We have the faith and we call 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:23.600 upon God and your prayers for this to come true. 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:28.239 Just five days after her husband's death, Mary emailed shareholders 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.120 reassuring them of her plans for the company. Throughout this episode, 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.239 we're using a voice actor to read out Mary's emails, 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.520 so keep in mind these are her words, but not 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:38.360 her voice. 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:42.640 I have been the company's CFO from the beginning, working 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.040 closely alongside Allan, and I am totally familiar with all 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:50.200 aspects of the Safe World's TV project. I have committed 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.799 to take over Allan's work to establish this company as 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.360 he intended, with the help of my son Clayton Metcalf. 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.160 The finest celebration of his legacy is that all of 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:05.000 us who can now pledge to liberate this gift to 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.440 benefit humanity. 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:11.680 Mary seemed to genuinely believe in what her late husband 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.359 had started. She even titled the video of Allan's funeral 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.960 as stay Strong and Keep the Faith. But investors were nervous. 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.160 They wondered how someone other than Alan could run a 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:28.040 project of this magnitude. Michael Blake, the sporting star who 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.760 invested three hundred thousand dollars, hadn't thought of Mary as 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:35.480 the chief financial officer of Safe Worlds. He'd seen her 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:36.600 as the office manager. 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.720 Alan was hands on on the software and doing interviews, 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.240 trying to raise money, doing all the meetings, and Mary 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.720 is probably in charge of the office and all the paperwork, 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.760 the admin, you know, all the stuff that has to 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:50.560 be done. 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.400 Mary had been at Alan's side for much of his life. 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.160 She tagged along with him on his business trips to 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.960 the US, and her signature was on the hundreds of 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.200 share certificates issued right next to Allan's. He had signed 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.160 as chief executive of Safe Worlds and she had signed 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.440 as its secretary. I want to know more about Mary 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.160 metcalf I found out so much about her late husband, 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.480 but what about the woman herself? This is what comes 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:22.160 up after I searched the Internet. Originally from Hungary, she 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.640 moved to Australia with her family when she was ten 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.440 and changed her name from Maria to Mary. Alan became 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:32.320 her life partner when she was seventeen. The Age newspaper 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.839 called her a prominent national party housewife in a nineteen 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:39.880 eighty article. She was also the publisher of Townsville Woman, 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:43.400 one of several magazines Alan launched, which went bust in 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:46.840 the nineteen eighties. In there, she said she was not 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:51.160 a woman's liberation person and highlighted success stories in motherhood 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:56.000 and commerce. More recently, in a profile on an American website, 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.520 she was named a twenty fifteen Professional Woman of the 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.520 Year for her work at Safe Worlds. The New York 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:07.800 based National Association of Professional Women bestowed the award. Warren Bardon, 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.000 an investor from Geraldon who we heard from last episode, 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:12.160 was impressed. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.960 It was spoken about Mary that she got Businesswoman of 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.280 the Year in bons Land or something that's sort of 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.200 charges people say or they know what they're doing. 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.719 Mike Brooke is the IT blogger we heard from in 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.160 another episode whose parents got mixed up in the scheme. 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.960 When he heard about Mary's award, he felt something was off. 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.080 The more I followed him and the more he talked 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.440 about how he was trying to sell to this company 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.200 and this company, and he would have things like he 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.080 would put on his emails out that Mary had won 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.600 this prestigious award of women and business. And then when 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:47.599 you actually go and look at what this award is, 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:49.760 it's a pay to play. It is an award that 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:52.679 you pay for and then you get a prestigious award. 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.880 The National Association of Professional Women got in trouble for 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.720 offering women free membership but then houning them credit card 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.480 payments of annual fees of up to one thousand dollars 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.840 and for extra you could be profiled on their website. 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.159 I've contacted Mary and the National Association of Professional Women 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.039 about claims that this award was paid for, but no 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:18.919 response has been received. One thing is certain, though, Alan 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.839 left mother Mary holding the baby because when Alan died, 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:28.839 the federal government was officially investigating the company. But why 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.440 was Safeworlds in trouble? The answer is hiding in plain sight. 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.719 Remember the back of those share certificates that said the 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.120 company wasn't registered under any laws in the US or 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:43.520 anywhere else in the world. Well, Australian authorities were not happy. 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:48.800 The Australian Federal Police, also known as the AFP, raided 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:53.440 Alan's Safeworld's officers and also his home multiple times. They 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.600 took computers and documents and apparently crippled the Safe World's operation. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.520 The AFP tell me the. 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.920 AFP executed search warrants on behalf of Assek at a 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.680 home and business on the Gold Coast and an office 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:11.040 in the Brisbane CBD in November twenty sixteen. The AFP 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:14.480 executed search warrants on behalf of ASSEK at the same 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:19.280 locations in January twenty seventeen. As this matter concerns and 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:23.800 ASSEK led investigation, all other inquiries should be directed to them. 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:28.560 The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ACIK for short, is 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.640 the country's corporate regulator, and someone or several someones had 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:37.400 passed on their concerns. In twenty sixteen, ASEIX started looking 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:40.360 into Alan and Safe Worlds, so I reach out to 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.840 ASEIK to find out more and put in a freedom 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:46.480 of information request. Two months later, I learned that the 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:51.080 metcalf sent forty five emails to Assek. Sixteen of those 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.120 were from Allen. His last email to them was just 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:58.680 three days before his death. Unfortunately, Acik wouldn't tell me 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:02.240 what was said in those emails, just that those emails existed. 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.680 It's frustrating. I would give almost anything to know what 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:10.400 Alan was saying. Was he surprised that authorities were looking 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.000 into him or had he been bracing for it for years. 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.120 When Alan passed away, Assek turned to Mary as the 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:20.840 new boss. Safegolds had failed to register as a foreign 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.480 company as required under the law. The company was also 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:29.480 offering shares to Australian investors without proper disclosure documents, which 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:33.640 was a breach under the Corporation's Act. Safegolds had to 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.600 enter into what is known as an enforceable undertaking. 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:41.040 The company and Mary Metcalfe have offered, and Asek has 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:45.319 agreed to accept as an alternative to Assek in exercising 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:49.599 its civil powers and or its administrative powers against a 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:54.200 company or others. The company will not offer securities that 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:58.840 require disclosure, and Mary metcalf will not be involved in 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.920 the offer of security dies that require disclosure. 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:06.800 Essentially, Mary wasn't allowed to sell any more Safe Worlds 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:10.120 shares and she had to register the business as a 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:14.920 foreign company. Mary also had to inform shareholders of the scolding, 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.680 and it was posted up onto the Internet for all 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:18.800 the world to see. 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:23.840 In September twenty sixteen, ASSEK commenced an investigation into Safe 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.560 Worlds as it was concerned about the way in which 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:30.040 we had raised money from investors. Safe Worlds has not 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.679 registered with ASEK as a foreign company, and Acik has 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.000 been concerned that Safe Worlds has not complied with its 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.000 obligations under the Corporations Act. On the twenty third of 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:45.840 August twenty seventeen, Safe Worlds provided a signed, enforceable undertaking 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:46.560 to ASEK. 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.760 That's part of the email from August twenty seventeen which 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:55.120 Acik shared online. It's pretty humiliating and a pretty big deal. 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.360 Anyone who looks up her name or Safe Worlds will 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:03.160 find that for many investors this was vindication proof that 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:07.319 their concerns about the company hadn't been totally imagined. Some 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.160 of them wished that this had happened years before to 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.720 spare them from ever trusting the company with their money. 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:15.959 I want to know more so I write to Mary 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:20.600 again asking about this asset decision. Eventually she writes back, 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.319 and I'm amazed she's blaming. 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:28.240 Allan Asek found no financial impropriety, only breaches of what 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:32.640 could be seen without belittling their importance as more technical rules, 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.000 in particular the number of shareholders we could sell to 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:40.720 without the expense of a prospectus. My husband erroneously believed 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:45.000 that the limit applied on each issue and not the total. Unfortunately, 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.680 we should have had access to continuous legal advice, an 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.239 area where we had tried to save expenses. 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.880 So Mary is saying that her husband's stinginess by trying 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.839 to save money or legal advice was what landed them 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:03.319 in hot water. Maybe that's completely understandable. We all make mistakes, 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.400 but ACIK wasn't going to let them go completely. The 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:11.160 corporate regulator reserved their rights to take Safe Worlds to court, 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.480 either civilly or criminally in the future. I wonder how 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.320 common is it for a company to be investigated like this. 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.200 We're just going to go straight to questions this morning. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.800 Ye I'll ask you about a few matters. Have you 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.559 been following this inquiry? 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:30.880 We have? 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.200 Yes, yeah, Okay, So you would know broadly the themes 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.080 which has been focusing on. Like I just I want 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:37.800 to ask you about a. 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:38.640 Few things today. 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.439 Do you think that we. 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:47.200 Have a problem with white collar crime in Australia? 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.000 Senator I'll pause, Alex, I'm trying to think about that 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.280 answer that without expressing an opinion. 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:55.679 On that one. 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.440 You're listening to a Senate inquiry into ASCIK. From November 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.160 twenty twenty three, New South Wales Senator Andrew Bragg was 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.959 leading a parliamentary inquiry into ASSEK, which recently finished. That's 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:12.520 him grilling some representatives from the Treasury. Months after that hearing, 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:14.960 I sit down with Senator Bragg in his office with 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.920 stunning views of Sydney Harbor. Senator Bragg leans back on 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.080 his chair as he tells me why it's important to 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.960 watch the Watchdog. Can you tell me a bit about 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.680 why this inquiry was started in the first place. What 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.520 were some of the concerns that made it get off 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:30.040 the ground. 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.959 Well, I was concerned that there were a spate of 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:40.640 instances where people were not being held to account where 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:45.120 they had clearly broken the law. And I worried that 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.080 white collar crime was a major issue in our country. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.320 The key finding, I think has to be that the 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.520 reason we see a cycle of ongoing white collar crime 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.520 is because no one's afraid of acid. In the last year, 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.760 the gray Barrier, Marine pac or I already achieved more 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.960 criminal prosecutions than corporate law enforcement. It's not very sexy, 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:07.679 but it's very important to a lot of people, because 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.959 ultimately what's happening is there's a lot of white collar crime. 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.199 It's damaging the economy. People are getting done over, There 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:18.360 are no opportunities for compensation for people who get done over, 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.400 and it's bloody outrageous. 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.680 I ask Senator Bragg for his take on the civil 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.640 penalty that Safe World's received. He won't comment specifically, but 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.600 he did say this about penalties generally. 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.400 That's the main finding from the inquiry, that the criminal 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.600 penalties are not used and there's an over alliance on 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.559 civil penalties, which are like speeding tickets. A think there's 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.240 a lot of powers. It loves civil penalties, but I 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:46.160 think that some people should be banned for life from 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.360 doing financial services or acting as a company director. And 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:53.160 until you see heads on spikes, then I don't think 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:54.479 you're going to see any change. 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.200 As I leave Andrews's office. It strikes me that Assex 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:03.000 seems pretty useless, a toothless tiger, and knowing this, I 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.000 now think it's even more significant that Asik took an 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.840 interest in Safe Worlds. I decided to ask Asik about 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:13.120 Mary and her business. The law enforcement body tells me 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.160 they struck the deal with Mary Metcalf before the twenty 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:21.240 nineteen Financial Services Royal Commission. Since then they've changed their 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:25.200 enforcement culture and also the circumstances where they'll accept an 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:30.120 unforcable undertaking. The Royal Commission was a pretty shocking spotlight 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.960 into our financial sector and it rocked Australians. The Commission 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.600 handed down a number of recommendations, including a push for 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.520 ASSEK to take more companies to court for wrongdoing rather 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:47.520 than simply striking settlement deals. Senator Bragg's inquiry into ASSEK 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.360 finished in early July and its findings were grim. He 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:56.360 absolutely eviscerated the regulator in his report to Parliament, finding 0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:00.680 it failed miserably in protecting the Australian public. The Senator 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:04.119 is now calling for complete overhaul of the government organization. 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:06.960 Every time there's been a problem in Canberra since ninety 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.600 ninety seven, it's been given to ACIK, and ACIK is 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:13.040 now a monolith. It is so big and it can't 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:18.520 possibly be successful as a sprawling financial services regulator and 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:24.080 as a company's regulator, which is why we have recommended 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.520 a new structure for corporate law enforcement in Australia, which 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:31.520 would be a splitting of asseg UP and a creation 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:32.480 of two new bodies. 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:37.320 So it's hard to get ACIK to take people's complaints seriously, 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:40.920 and yet they did for Safe Worlds. But as I 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:45.120 start diving deeper, I'm shocked to discover that this wasn't 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:49.960 even the biggest issue Safeworlds faced under Mary's leadership, because 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.680 while all this was going on, Mary was trying to 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.640 broker a deal to sell the company. Michael Blake, the 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.400 Sydney former sports star who invested a fortune, tells me 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.800 this is where things get really weird. 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:06.600 Not long after Alan passed away, Mary sent out an 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.120 email telling us all that she was going to take 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.200 it up and get a result in carry on Allan's work. 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.360 And then not long after that, she said that she'd 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.720 got a pocket call from this stuff guy from Ireland 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.600 that Alan had been speaking with, and that he was 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.080 really sad that Alan had passed away, but he did 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:27.600 whatever he can to help get the project up and going, 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.640 and it turned into that he was done to buy 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:36.239 Safeworld or the technology for a couple of billion dollars. 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.360 John Duff is an Irish businessman, offering a fortune for 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:44.960 Safe Worlds two point two five billion US dollars with inflation. 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.600 That's worth about two point eight eight billion today, which 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:52.000 is four point four to six billion in Australian dollars. 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.520 It seemed like an answer to everyone's prayers. Our God 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.840 send a miracle. Mary emailed shareholders, saying we. 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.480 Are as anxious as all shareholders are to see this 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.080 matter concluded soon and on the best of terms, I 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.440 am doing everything I can to achieve this. 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.719 As a shareholder himself, Michael says he was excited. 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.359 So it's one hundred thousand shares, okay, Well that's thirty 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.119 three dollars a share. Well that's not too bad. So 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:20.960 I've you've got one hundred thousand shares, that's three point 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:22.679 three million dollars or whatever it is. You know, you've 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.200 got two hundred and five hundred, ten thousand shares, and 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:27.520 that's so we kind of thought okay, I'll be happy 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:27.720 with that. 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.639 John Duff, the potential buyer, was going to fund the 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:41.200 multi billion dollar purchase through his company. A few months later, though, 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.280 Duff changed his tune. He said he'd fund the sale personally. 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:48.960 Given the price Duff was willing to pay was apparently 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.760 over two billion, that would mean he must be a 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:55.480 billionaire himself, But Michael tells me he's never heard of 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:59.800 a billionaire called John Duff. In Australia, people with a 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:02.800 new worth of over a billion are all known. There's 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.639 only one hundred and fifty of them, and Ireland has 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:10.040 a much smaller economy and population in Australia. I try 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:13.320 to dig up everything I can about this mysterious irishman, 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:18.119 and the information is sparse. Aside from a LinkedIn page, 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.840 there's very little online about John Darff at all. He's 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.600 from Mullingar, from the Ireland county of Westmeath, with a 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:30.160 population of just twenty two thousand people. Investor Charlie Weinbean, 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.080 the man whose tip off kickstarted my investigation into Safe Worlds, 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.480 tells me he was suspicious of the deal from the start. 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.520 I became skeptical, of course, but then the first email 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.080 that we got after his passing away was from Mary, 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:46.679 in which he was saying that nothing would change and 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.800 she was going to continue. Alan was gone, but the 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.840 Safe Worlds were still there and they were just continuing 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:56.680 with business as usual pretty much. But then we got 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.679 the crazy emails, you know, like the one from jumping 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.040 from investor to the other, the ones that really started 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:03.960 making me skeptical. 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.280 The emails he's referring to came from Rod McKay, the 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.640 farmer from Geralton who poured one point five million dollars 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.720 into the scheme and encouraged hundreds of others to invest. 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:19.280 Up until this point, Rod was a Safe Worlds fanatic, 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.480 but the John Duff deal was making him lose his faith. 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:27.680 Rod McKay sensationally quit the Safe World's Advisory board. Then 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.920 he got into a very long, wild exchange of emails 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.679 with Mary metcalf. As you know, Rod has declined to 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.520 speak to me or help with my investigation. But luckily 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:41.760 for me, he copied in lots of other investors into 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.480 these emails. Most had deleted or lost them, but Warren 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:49.280 Bardon from Geralton had saved them all. He printed them 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:51.480 off and handed them to me in a big folder. 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.080 When I visited him last episode. The emails fill up 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:59.280 nineteen pages. I read them all in one sitting, not 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.720 quite the l leaving what I'm seeing. I can't tell 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:04.919 you some of what was in Rod's messages because I 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:08.120 wasn't able to verify it. Here's what I can tell you. 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:11.080 These are Rod's words, but not his voice. 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.280 My quest for a return from shareholders on their investment, 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.199 and because of my belief in the Safe World's product. 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.480 A preliminary investigation has been completed on the ground in 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:26.520 Ireland by a contact of mine. The time for delusion 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:29.800 is over. The reality of the Irish deal can now 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:31.119 be seen for what it is. 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:34.600 One of the people Rod had introduced to the Safeworld's 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:38.440 program was from Ireland. This investor returned to his homeland 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:42.080 in twenty nineteen and decided to look into who Duff was. 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:45.800 In a series of emails sent over a few months, 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:48.159 Rod revealed what they'd uncovered. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:52.160 John Duff was born in nineteen thirty three and had 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:55.679 moved to New York and had become a policeman and 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:59.359 later worked for the CIA. He has six children to 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:02.480 one one life and four children to four other women. 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.320 His son had a demolition company in London and died 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:10.040 on the twenty fifth of June twenty twenty. He has 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.240 paid one hundred and twenty four euros from the Irish 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:17.560 government every week. He has an office works print out 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:20.600 his emails and he collects them. He does not have 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:22.960 a desktop or laptop. 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.600 As I'm pouring over these files, the chain of events 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:31.160 gets crazier on every new line. Next, Rod writes that 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.040 Mary wanted her son looked after. 0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:36.120 It was a source of amusement to Duff that a 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:39.600 make or break condition of a multi billion dollar deal 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:43.200 was that Mary's son, Clayton, had to be given a job. 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:47.960 Rod had blacked out important names in the emails, including 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:51.960 the name of Duff's company, and even more strange, Duff 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:55.480 was referred to as JB throughout the exchange, like some 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.040 kind of spy alias. Rod said he was able to 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:01.600 find this all out by talking to a former business 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:05.119 associate of Duff's. The only thing I have is the 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:07.480 name John Duff and the name and date of his 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:11.320 son passing away. I find his son's death notice on 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:15.120 a funeral website, which does indeed prove Duff had six 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:18.399 children from his first marriage. Now I also have the 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:21.360 area in Ireland that Duff is from, and from there 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:23.640 I'm able to track down the name of his company, 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:29.560 Copthorn Trust Corporation Limited. For two euros fifty I get 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:33.120 a business extract on it from the company's registration office, 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.320 which is exactly what it sounds like, Ireland's corporate regulator. 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:41.160 Those documents show that yes, stuff was born. In nineteen 0:22:41.200 --> 0:22:46.840 thirty three. One Sydney investor Jay Martin Covits, was watching 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:50.320 the email exchange play out from a distance. He tells 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:54.200 me he invested ten thousand dollars into Safe Worlds, and 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:57.280 as Ji I learned more about the Irish deal, he 0:22:57.440 --> 0:22:59.879 was worried what this meant for his money and if 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:01.119 he'd ever see it again. 0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:04.159 I find it very strange that someone would pooney up 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:07.600 with a billion dollars plus of money, which at that 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:10.439 time I don't think it was even suggested there had 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:13.800 been a meeting. So for someone to invest in a 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:16.760 system that they haven't seen or done any due diligence 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:20.280 on would be crazy, yet alone at that level of money, 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:23.840 so I question that as far as the valuation of 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:27.720 the platform itself, the only way you could possibly even 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:31.080 justify anywhere near that level of valuation for the system 0:23:31.119 --> 0:23:35.680 would be if Alan had artificial intelligence. If he had that, 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:38.280 sky's a limit. If he didn't have it, I think 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:39.760 it's worth nothing zero. 0:23:42.200 --> 0:23:46.720 Duff himself seemed to have similar concerns. He thought Safewards 0:23:46.800 --> 0:23:50.040 was worth two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, not two 0:23:50.040 --> 0:23:55.320 point three billion, according to Rod's investigations. Mary emailed investors 0:23:55.359 --> 0:23:57.800 in late twenty nineteen to say that Duff would have 0:23:57.840 --> 0:24:01.320 the first one point five billion dollars in place by 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:04.080