Dermot Dann’s path to becoming the “preeminent” criminal barrister, with a client list ranging from Jordan De Goey to the accused High Country killer, started in 2005 when an old man’s body was found in an East Kew home.
A bizarre snippet of information may link the financial scandal of Ivanhoe lawyer John Bernard Adams to the Prince of Ponzis, Bernie Madoff.
Wrongly accused of heroin trafficking, Japanese tourist Chika Honda — and five others — paid an appalling price for the presumed guilt of one. Thirty years on, the police case still reeks.
As the toxic fallout continues from what is still emerging as Australia’s biggest Ponzi scheme scandal, wine buffs may tip their hat to John Adams’ modus operandi for luring investors.
A high-profile barrister – who has worked on some serious criminal cases – is coming out of retirement to help fellow investors caught up in the Ivanhoe Ponzi scheme.
An enigmatic figure at the centre of what could be Australia’s biggest Ponzi scheme did deals with a vast network of contacts gathered over several decades, including racing identities and football heavyweights.
Some of Melbourne’s biggest names in sport and law have been duped out of tens of millions of dollars by a kindly grandfather figure at a sober Ivanhoe legal firm.
Close to $100m may have been lured from powerbrokers in sport, the law and wagering as part of a Ponzi scandal that’s set to be bigger than Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick’s massive rort.
The Victorian Bookmakers Association has been ripped off close to $2m in funds invested with an Ivanhoe law firm – but it’s feared the loss is only a fraction of a much bigger scam.
It’s all but certain one of two violent men who accompanied a crime writer to Julie Garciacelay’s North Melbourne flat murdered her. But 48 years on, we’re no closer to the truth.
Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/andrew-rule/page/17