NSW Supreme Court Orders High-Flying Conman to Repay Victims

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Peter Foster’s trail of cons and aliases goes back decades, but now some of his victims are set to receive a portion of their money back after the NSW Supreme Court ordered they be reimbursed more than $10 million.

Supreme Court Justice Michael Ball ruled in favour of civil action brought by 165 investors against the online betting agency Sports Trading Club (STC).

Peter Foster’s niece, Arabella Foster, and two companies: Hong Kong-based Sports Trading Club Ltd and Banksia Holdings, were ordered to pay the investors $7.9 million plus $1.8 million interest, and half of their legal costs.

The decision paves the way for the investors to access Hong Kong and Cayman Islands bank accounts believed to contain around $4 million, as well as Foster’s personal assets.

Fraud charges

Peter Foster, considered to be the “mastermind” behind the STC scam, was arrested earlier this year after being on the run in Queensland for more than a year. He was quickly extradited to New South Wales.

It is alleged Foster posed under the alias “Mark Hughes” and encouraged a South African-born investor to deposit money into accounts, including one offshore, linked to STC.

According to court documents, the investor understood he was investing in STC to obtain a licence in South Africa. He spoke to “Mr Hughes” daily and monitored his investment online, which amounted to more than $1 million.

The scheme began to unravel when a director of STC sent the investor a message referring to a man called Peter Foster. An internet search revealed a video of Foster, and the victim matched the image with the man he knew as Mark Hughes.

Police allege $32 million has been deposited into STC’s Sydney-based Westpac account with a majority sent offshore, and was used to fund Peter Foster’s extravagant lifestyle rather than any legitimate betting agency.

Three weeks after his arrest, Mr Foster applied for bail but was refused on the grounds he was deemed an ‘unacceptable flight risk.’ The prosecution made submissions in court that police had discovered an “escape kit” buried in his back yard, including an Irish passport and Medicare card.

Not the first time

Mr Foster has previously found himself on the wrong side of the law.

His first conviction was more than 30 years ago, when he was fined over a false insurance claim for a cancelled boxing fight.

And during the 1980s, he famously persuaded UK pop singer Samantha Fox and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, to promote his product Bai Lin tea, which falsely claimed to promote weight loss.

In 2003, Foster left Britain under threat of deportation after creating a national scandal by helping then Prime Minister’s wife Cherie Blair to buy cheap apartments in Bristol.

Foster remains in custody awaiting trial on fraud charges relating to STC. He faces five counts of publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage and two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

He has previously served prison time in Australia, Britain, the US and Vanuatu on a range of offences relating to fraud and money laundering over bogus weight loss scams.

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