WEBVTT - Le Diabolique 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.200 This is the case of Marion Barter, a mother, teacher 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:21.320 friend missing for twenty six years. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:25.040 You know, no sign that she was going to vanish. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:25.480 That's for sure. 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:30.040 The bizarre circumstances surrounding her disappearance. 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.240 I'm not sure if it was intentional or there's something 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:34.120 more foul afoot. 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.080 If you could imagine a teacher coming straight from say 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.400 little house on the prairie to the eighties, that was 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:40.080 Marian Barter. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:45.800 What I say, whether you find Marian Barter dead or alive, 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.559 I honestly believe somebody has that key piece of information. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.760 And the relentless quest of a daughter to find her mum. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.440 Something had happened, Something has happened to make her leave. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.880 I am one hundred percent sure, one hundred percent sure 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:15.199 that somebody knows something. The lady vanishes, Episode fifty three. 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:17.920 I'm Alison Sandy. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:19.039 And I'm Brian Seymour. 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:19.520 Hello. 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.560 Here I am with the man Liam Bartlet. We are 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.440 here in the middle of town square in Brussels, which 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.399 is just phenomenal. And Liam, you've been to so many 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.360 places in your career. Can you can you tell me 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:33.400 do you have an idea? 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:38.360 The number? Yeah, the number. I'm not sure that can 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.839 I just can I tell people that we've been talking 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.679 about shopping, which is a serious subject. Right when you're 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:46.800 on their own shopping and if you don't come home 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.960 with the right presence, you're in a serious strike. Allison, 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.360 you've impressed me with the shopping already. This is a 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.000 lady who makes decisions. You can see why she us 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:00.560 where she is. I don't know the number, that's the 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:02.520 short answer. That's why I'm prevaricating. 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:06.320 Here would be hundreds and all over the world, exotic locations, 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:11.000 from Batan to Russia to Middle East, Middle East Africa, Africa. 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:13.160 What's the most unusual. 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.840 Like off the bridge of the Greed. Probably places that 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:23.520 you can't automatically find a policeman or get help if 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:28.200 you need it, or lawless places. Probably the Congo. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.200 Probably, oh my god, democratic republica commo. 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.760 Yes, big country and out there, completely out there, and 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:36.720 terrible shopping. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:39.760 So you didn't buy any presents. 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:41.280 Nothing came back from the Congo. 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.120 He has been very impressive with his presence for his family. 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.480 I asked him whether or not he was wearing some 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.080 factory's wife, and he's of course his wife said no, 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.359 don't learn have been back, but he's no call. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.400 That's a COVID message from Whit's all over the world. 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.520 When you go away, don't worry me means get me 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:02.040 something big. 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.040 And it's been a little bit sad because the fertility 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:09.040 bars you've got three ten wasn't a win up. 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.760 I can't understand why that wasn't at We'd already had 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.359 three kids, so she didn't need a fraternity bars. Okay, 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:18.960 but it's beautiful and it's still sitting in that laundry 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:20.519 cupboard to day to this day. 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.440 Thanks, but she didn't tell him. I love the fact 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:26.560 she didn't tell him, but kind of gave it away 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.959 with the laundry cupboard vacation. Very sad, but sorry, I'm 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:33.520 gonna bring this up. But my favorite, though, is the 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:35.760 one you brought back through your daughter one time. 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.040 Can you describe it from Japan? We were out in 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.880 the prefectures of Japan. I have been really a regional 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:47.400 Japanese present, not common for many A frog purse. 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:48.520 Real frog. 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:53.440 Yeah, it has been treated, but she was ten there 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.720 at the time and a very ungrateful ten year old. 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:58.600 I can't understand it, Like why you wouldn't want a 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:00.720 dead frog that you could book stuff in. 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:07.360 It was a beautiful change kids. 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.320 Well for just a little bit on the st of 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:16.920 your life as an international domestica of Jersey ships incredible 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.320 and I'm really to be on this part. 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:20.880 Thanks for making me sound so seriously. 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.640 Liam Bartlett has been a journalist for more than thirty years. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.080 He started in radio, firstly in regional Western Australia, where 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.440 as well as presenting, he had to sell commercials, before 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:40.160 moving to Perth where he dominated the airwaves at six PR, 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:44.479 followed by ABC. In two thousand and two, Liam was 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.680 awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study investigative journalism and later 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.640 became a reporter for sixty Minutes. He joined Channel seven 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:57.760 Spotlight this year. For me, this is only the third 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.520 time I've been overseas for work, but undoubtedly the most 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:08.360 memorable in my career so far. Sadly, our time in Brussels, though, 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.680 has come to an end for now and we embark 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.080 upon a road trip to nearby Luxembourg. 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.599 So the GPS is a little bit confusing. 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.200 The route out of the Belgian capital is a tree 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:23.960 lined avenue decorated with old fashioned terrace apartments either side. 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.240 The next massive roundabout return right. We pass some more 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:31.080 magnificent landmarks on the way out, including the City Museum, 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:35.320 before the buildings become fewer and the trees more prominent. 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.440 First things first, though, we need fuel, not for the 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.600 car but for us. So here is the endless pursuits 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:45.719 to find somewhere we can get coffee. 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.480 Not so easy as we're leading Brussels. 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.640 We find it at a little town called yeesious Ike, 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:53.800 just outside Brussels. 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:55.880 The restaurant that's shut. 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:58.239 Yeah, it's the bank holiday. 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.960 Belgium and Luxembourg s to have a lot of bank holidays. 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:06.560 It's not surprising, giving banking and finance drives both economies, 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.800 especially Luxembourg, which is a major global tax haven. But 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.520 they should be a cafe somewhere. They'll have a cafe. 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:16.600 People stood in coffee. 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.720 Honestly, Yeah, here. 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:27.640 We go ya, Oh my gosh, thank goodness, thank goodness, 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.280 we can come alive. 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:31.520 Again, and we do. 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.840 The staff there are so friendly and by the time 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:38.880 we get back on the road we feel completely reinvigorated. 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.839 It was another hour and a half before we stopped again, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.160 this time at a small village just off the highway 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:50.719 over the Luxembourg border. Nothing is opened except for a 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:57.799 petrol station opposite a small homestead with farm animals including geese, turkeys, chickens, 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.120 and a rooster running free. I just love how the 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.440 chickens are out and it's a pretty busy road. 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.440 We just have some sort of road sense. 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:14.000 Those pe massive They are very. 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.400 That you know that you're getting too close back on 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.240 the road. Giant wind farms crowded the picturesque horizon as 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.080 we near the entry to the world's last Grand Duchy. 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:34.240 Here we are downtown Luxembourg. Interesting as a train station. Yea, 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:41.440 so four hours later since leaving Brussels, we are now. 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:42.760 In the fill of Luxembourg. 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.200 It doesn't take that long, but we did make a 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:55.560 few stops. Light rain greets us As we reach the hotel. 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.680 It's a five minute walk over the Adolphy Bridge to 0:07:58.760 --> 0:07:59.280 Old Town. 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:00.000 Oh my god. 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.679 I knew it was going to be a fairy tale town, 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:05.960 but I had no idea it was going to look 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:12.080 like this. Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is breathtaking. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.520 What looks like the Disneyland Castle in the distance is 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.680 actually the opulent State Savings Bank, built at the beginning 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.200 of the twentieth century. Crowds gather at a fair the 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.840 other side of the Sandstone Bridge. But I can see 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.480 why it would be a fantasy place to live, and 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:34.840 why hope that somebody might be tempted to move here 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.480 and start a new life. In the center is the 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:43.720 Monument of Remembrance or Gela Fra, which means Golden Lady. 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:48.680 Standing twenty one meters tall, the gilded bronze statue represents Nike, 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:52.480 Goddess of Victory, holding out a laurel wreath as if 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:56.960 placing it upon the head of the nation. At its 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:01.920 base are bronze figures of Luxembourgish soul, representing those who 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:06.400 volunteered to serve for France in World War One. Local 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:10.440 sculptor Klaus Sito created the monument, which was erected in 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:15.520 nineteen twenty three. Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:20.240 in Europe and traditionally a military fortress because geographically it 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.959 was a critical stronghold for whomever was ruling at the time. 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:30.000 Over many centuries, they included Holy Roman emperors, the House 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:35.320 of Burgundy, the Habsburgs, French and Spanish kings, and finally 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:40.880 the Prussians. Before the Unification of Germany. Now it's a 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:45.199 successful business center and popular tourist hub. As we discover 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.120 at the main thoroughfare of Old Town. This is very busy, 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:56.000 but people here are rugged up, their clothing more flamboyant 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.720 and colorful than our attire in Australia. The temperature in 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:04.599 the earth early teens. Luxembourg feels even colder than Belgium. 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.640 We only have two days here, so there's little time 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:11.640 to waste. After a day of traveling. We get an 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.800 early night ahead of a full day of filming, starting 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:18.880 with the Luxembourg Word newspaper in the local language, the 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.000 Luxembourger Vite. Oh yeah, it's so good to be here 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.800 in Luxembourg with you. Thank you so much. Welcome, I've 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:28.400 always been so welcoming. Now four years ago Sally and 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:30.160 Brian came to see you in the newsroom. 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.000 This is not the new No, We've moved shocked twice 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:38.280 since then. Long we ended up here and hopefully feel good. 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:41.720 There's a much nice of business in this and the 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.120 technology is amazing. I'm just looking around the newsroom. Is 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:45.720 have you always had great technology? 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:46.800 Is it just since you moved. 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.040 It's got to do with the fact that we moved. 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.840 It all came kind of together. The idea was always there, 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.200 but this is basically everyone in one room and being 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:59.080 transparent about data. So you know what y're how y'ard 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.880 was performing of what's going on right now, so you 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.360 just have a look at the warm. Basically that's the idea. 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.959 Your last article was under plum in relation to it, Blum, 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.000 how did that perform good enough? 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.200 Let's say, yeah, usually these articles performed pretty well, and 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.400 so this this one even though there wasn't like anymitate 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.800 luxember conectional, but they did really want a Luxembourg fund 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:20.720 as well. And it's a lot of international readers. 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.560 So the topic in general. So ever since we wrote 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.160 the first piece on the whole case and about like 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:32.040 trying to explain all the possible connections and then the 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:36.240 stories of Lord Charlotte and Guilen and Ante Flamm, they 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.240 find they find their readers. Really they've performed quite well. 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.040 Have you had any potential other leads? 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:48.560 Not as such currently, So from a Luxembourg perspective, I'd 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.560 also say the Belgian perspective is kind of I'm not finished, 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.480 but that's that's what it is in Belgium for us 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.199 from our perspective. So there's women in Belgium being robbed 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.560 out of amounts of money, and we have three of 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.320 them now and we haven't heard of the fourth yet. 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.320 But we're still at the same time trying to find 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.800 more Luxembourg connections, which is difficult. Though it's been a 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.439 while since he was in Luxembourg, it's longer back in 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:21.520 time than the Belgium cases. And it's also we might 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:24.760 have had a different way of going about things back then. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.160 It might not have been the same modus operandi or 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.839 tricks he pulled, so it's all a bit shadier in 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:33.120 the Luxembourg era. 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.000 So he might have reported people, but there's a civil 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.640 on communication of like romantic scams. 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:44.080 In what we can see, the romance scamming is in Belgium, 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.600 and it is in Australia for sure, because we heard 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:47.320 of those two other. 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:48.600 Women in the hearing them. 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:52.200 We don't know what happened with Marion Barter, but so 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:54.040 far we don't see any of that in Luxembourg. 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:56.040 Well, the inquest starts at the end of the month, 0:12:56.200 --> 0:13:00.040 so I guess we'd be interested in that, yeah, for sure. 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:02.600 Where I think we'll cover it locally as well. 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:07.360 We will probably following your legal family that you know, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:09.800 tied in with the stories that we did before that, 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.880 and whether it'd be interesting to see how that of 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:12.080 the thing. 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:13.560 That would be quite an interesting turning point. 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.360 And maybe at that point we can also try to 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:21.080 re engage with several leads here Luxembourg or or Swamp 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.040 with media and maybe try something out that that could 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:25.959 give us more of an indication of for the dictions. 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.359 Yeah, or we'll be spending time on YouTube. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:30.800 Well can you question and some of the other lads 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.800 where you have to thank you, You're welcome, thank you. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.959 Not long after Liam meets Tom for the first time. 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:42.120 But I'm from Thailand originally, which is another province in Germany. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.640 I was never very far from the Luxembourg French border, 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:50.000 so okay, other than like I lived in Canada for 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.040 a year when I was studying, but I'm native from 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:54.640 these grounds sort of stuff. 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.600 I ice to work with the German guy a couple 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.920 of years who was the American correspondent for Build I 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:03.959 think very funny. 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:10.240 Famous, yeah yeah, yeah, very funny, especially recently some dirty 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:11.080 Lunger being washed. 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.120 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. He used to say he was 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.280 his life mission to let people know that some Germans 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:16.760 were funny. 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:18.920 Yes, it's true. 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.800 After a bit of light banter, Lillam invites Tom to 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.240 share his thoughts on Rick Bloom and the challenges he's 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:30.080 faced investigating his many claims to sort out the fact 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:30.760 from fiction. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.880 In Australia. We know him as Rick Bloom at the moment. 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:37.880 What do you know him best as over here? 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.000 Well, that's a tricky one to begin with. We don't 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:44.400 know him at all, if you will or not under 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.240 a certain name. I'm still totally puzzled about what his 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.680 real name is. Some people we talked to say his 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:54.880 birth name is Billy Walters. We heard copper Dollar, we 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.480 heard the most. It seems to be the most common. 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.880 Pseudonym or fake name is fred Rick the hitter Varry. 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.640 Rick Blum seems to be the most recent. Then there's 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:10.240 this pheno remarkaal anecdote with the driver's license and the 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.440 real man from Luxembourg who got his identity stolen, et cetera, 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.480 et cetera. So I couldn't tell by which we by 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.760 which one we know him. We use Rick Bloom because 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:25.640 we feel that the that's the official one that's currently valid. 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.720 So to speak and we used the the ones he 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.200 used in the cases we cover. So for us, he's 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.640 Rick Glume, also known as Frederic the hittervary born as 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.800 we voters. It's a bit it's not very practical. Let's 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:41.040 say for him it. 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.440 Was maybe for us it isn't It's a bit like 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:45.080 holding a tig about the titles. 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.760 Yes, yeah, yeah, and you need I mean you need 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.760 to pinpoint it somehow and focus on some aspects. Right, 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.280 Rick Blum is what we call him in our titles, 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.920 for example, like we call him the serials camera Rick 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:02.680 Bloom as in another Belgian widow claims she was robbed 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.520 by serious camera Rick Blume. That's what he is for us. 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:11.040 But the trial here for you is very muddy. Going 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:12.920 back through the records and that sort of thing you 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.920 keep coming across these different names. That's complicated, isn't it. 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.840 Well, it's the complicated thing is the names. Indeed, I 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.600 send a list, the whole list with names to the 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:25.640 National Archives and say could you please check for us 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.400 if you have anything under those names, and they say, well, 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.920 we don't, for example. But then they also offered some 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:37.600 explanation saying well names is maybe not enough. The way 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.960 we are organized, we would need something like file numbers, 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.840 or if there's this like we have on file in 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.760 Australia that there's this arrest in Wills in Luxembourg in 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.760 nineteen seventy six, then the Luxembourg archives say do you 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.360 know why he was arrested? That might help us. Do 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.440 you know who arrested him, which police precinct, etc. And 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:59.120 I say no, I can only assume. Right so far 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.800 we have nothing, and that's because of the names, but 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:05.520 it's also because it's been quite a while and the 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:06.919 way things are organized right. 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:11.920 Hell, how would you describe the criminal history of Rick 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:16.920 Bloom through Impressive, through Luxembourg and Belgium and France. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.520 You would get the impression that he's a master criminal, 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.840 or that's the way he might have seen himself at times, 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.359 because he tried to obscure everything with the fake names, 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.440 and he had a way of forging documents and using 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.840 systems to his advantage. But then again you look at 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.879 the at his rap sheet and at the time he 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:40.680 spent in jail, maybe that's not quite master criminal at all. 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.440 If you get caught a lot in between, it's hard 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.280 to tell, and it's impressive in that it is. I 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.520 sometimes think it's enough for two lifetimes. Right, It's like, 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:54.680 when did he do all this stuff? And also the 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:58.399 ones we covered recently about the Belgian women, Like we 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.959 have three Belgian women coming forward claiming and I mean 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.720 it's pretty safe to say it happened that way to 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.840 have lost significant sums of money to this guy. I 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:13.200 mean that's impressive in a way that it seemed so 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:17.000 easy for him, right, Like I'm not blaming those women 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.800 of anything like being naive or anything. I mean, it's 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:24.240 not for me to say, but it makes you wonder 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.840 how he did it. Right, He walks into their lives 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.960 and within two or three weeks he walks out again 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:34.359 with bags of money, like literally bags of money. It's crazy. 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.760 And we are talking hundreds of thousands of euros. 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.960 In some cases, yeah, one hundred and fifty thousand or 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.480 two like two bag, two plastic bags with fifty thousand 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:46.880 euros each in cash. 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.600 So in a very short space of time, he manages 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.360 to not only inculcate himself into their lives, but get 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:54.720 them to trust him to that extent. 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:59.480 And he uses he uses like he has some capital, 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.120 so to speak, some trust, some trust in the banks already, 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:06.879 like it's either that he approaches them on the on 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:11.640 this romantic scam level, like answering personal ads and being 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.480 all romantic with them. Let's call it, or it's family. 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:17.879 In one case it was he was family of the 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.760 late husband of the person he robbed, right, so they 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.919 knew him already by name and by anecdotes, but they 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:30.359 only met him briefly a few years before. And in 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:33.399 the most recent case that we covered on IFLAM, it 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.600 was it was friendship with the son in law of 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:41.199 the victims. So basically, you have several levels or several ways, 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:44.440 several whatever kind of relationship you have with him, he 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.680 will use it against you. That's the image we have. 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.680 So he manages to find the emotional weeksman. 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.280 Weeks, but the back door, the whatever you call it, right, 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:58.840 and it's some it's always it's those stories. They differ 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.200 in details, of course, but they have always the same 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.800 way they are going, like what could I have done? 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.159 He was a friend of my father's or well he 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:10.960 was family, wasn't he? Or he wrote me such a 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.520 nice letter. In fact, she did say that the one 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.160 he wrote the letter to she said he never disagreed 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:19.720 with me. Whenever I didn't want to do something, or 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.400 whenever I refused to do something, he said, yeah, you're 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:26.399 totally right, let's find another way. So basically, whatever you 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.480 say to him, he can use it. It's pretty manipulative 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.320 and quite impressive. 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:36.800 Here on that note, I mean, do you have any 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:39.840 sense of the scale of this? Do you have any 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:43.840 idea of perhaps how many women he may have scammed 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:45.040 in this part of the world. 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.040 It's hard to say, but I mean it's almost like 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:53.080 my hypothesis on what I'm working on, what we are 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.480 working on. Yannick and I pretty much every overseas strip 0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:01.480 from Australia, which is all pretty well documented. Whenever he 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:05.720 comes back to Australia and declaring more than ten thousand 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.800 dollars in cash, there might have been a woman behind 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:10.200 that being scammed. 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:13.520 Right, so far, well, there's dozens and dozens of THOUSETRAI yeah. 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:16.280 So far we have free There might be more in Luxembourg. 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:18.320 He's to us. It seems he's a bit like a 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:22.960 phantom's it's hard to pinpoint what he or his tracks 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:25.880 in Luxembourg are hard to discover for the archive situation, 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.920 for because it's been in the eighties, Like, it's not 0:21:30.400 --> 0:21:33.119 those Belgian cases, there are more recent How. 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:37.119 Long do you think he has been operating in this fashion. 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:39.879 That's also something that we're not sure or we cannot 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:43.600 be sure of, depends on what fashion you mean. I mean, 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.000 he's if you look at this at his rap sheet, 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:49.640 he's been forging stuff all along. He's been there's checks 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:55.200 without cover, there's identity theft, there's borrowing things from people 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:59.800 not giving them back. Basically apparently there's promises to sell. 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.639 You have an important or a significant or valuable collection 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.920 of something, he offers to evaluate it and sell it 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:08.800 for you, and then he takes it and never comes back. 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:12.800 Apparently those things have happened all along. What's relatively recent 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:16.400 seems to be this Roman scam thing that I've just described, 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:19.359 the three Belgian cases we had, And what we cannot 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:21.840 say at the moment is what happened exactly in Luxembourg. 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:26.320 That's still a mystery to us. Like we know about 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:31.440 this furniture store which has been operating for something like 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:34.520 three years. There has been a physical location where the 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:37.400 store was located. We don't know what happened there. There's 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:40.080 people saying it doesn't have much to do with furniture. 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:44.280 There's theories about money laundering or anything going on behind 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:49.000 those false fronts. Then there's stories about another furniture warehouse 0:22:49.200 --> 0:22:53.320 in the Belgian Luxembourg Order area with some sinister things 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:54.440 going on there, but we don't know. 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:59.040 Yeah, so we think that furniture shop business, yes, may 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:02.320 have some hass why I've been a front, yes, for 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:03.680 him to move money through. 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:08.119 That's what we think for whatever money laundering would be 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:12.320 what you think of first maybe right. Then again, we 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:14.880 have talked to people in the village where he has 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:17.119