Collins Street had never seen anything like it. Inside EL&C Baillieu, there was panic. The IT department was instructed to delete incoming emails. Staff were ordered not to talk about them. An emergency publicist who had worked for Victorian premier Jeff Kennett was hired. The broker's owners were called to a crisis meeting.

EL&C Baillieu's star banker – a man who had seized control of the storied Melbourne broker through the force of his personality and money-making talent – had been fooled by what may be the most audacious set-up in Australian business history.