Small-time drug arrest helped US authorities take-down Casanova conman

A decades-old run-in with the law helped US authorities arrest Australia’s most-wanted Casanova conman, accused of swindling millions of dollars in scams.

A small-time drug arrest more than twenty years ago helped authorities take down Australia’s most wanted Casanova conman.

The Herald Sun can reveal the Australian government informed on ex-Melbourne love rat Paul Carter after he came under criminal suspicion in the United States.

US court documents show the federal government handed over copies of Carter’s birth certificate, passport and criminal file last October amid a visa fraud investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.

The documents included a mugshot of the scammer taken by Victoria Police in the year 2000.

Carter — then known as Paul Cristallo — was charged after 12 hydroponically grown cannabis plants were located in a rear garden shed at his Glenroy home.

Paul Carter, then Cristallo, mugshot released by Victoria Police after his drug arrest in 2000.

The documents state the now 55-year-old made “full admissions” during his police interview and escaped conviction, instead completing a drug-education program.

The arrest was likely a distant memory for Carter, who is accused of cheating lovers, relatives, businesses and a charity out of millions of dollars during years of cunning and elaborate scams in Melbourne.

However it became his undoing when US authorities put his visa under the microscope last year.

It’s alleged Carter failed to disclose his criminal history and use of aliases when applying for his second visa in 2018.

Legal documents show he was initially denied the visa but used an “immigration loophole” to legally stay in the US until May 2020.

A list of up-market properties available for sale in the US. This document was seized by US authorities inside Paul Carter's home and used as evidence in his detention hearing.

A criminal complaint filed by Homeland Security agent Michael Koscielniak states Carter tried to explain his way out of the historic crop house charge when questioned by US authorities.

“Carter admitted to me that he previously used the name Paul Cristallo and that he had been arrested in Australia in connection with a marijuana grow operation, which he said was his neighbours,” agent Koscielniak wrote.

“He also told me that he was in the process of changing his name to Paul Hamilton and had overstayed his US visa. While in his residence, I observed documents bearing the name Paul Hamilton.”

Casanova Conman Paul Carter's fraudulent US visas

A family trust document seized from Paul Carter's home suggesting he has $25 million.

Carter is currently in home detention, living with his fourth wife, Kelly Hamilton, in Watervliet in New York.

Their home was raided and documents, including a family trust statement, were seized by US authorities as part of the visa fraud investigation.

One document addressed to Carter by BNY Mellon, a wealth management firm, stated he had almost $25 million in trust funds, and was used against him in a detention hearing.

It is unclear if it is a legitimate or doctored statement.

Another document lists nine multimillion-dollar properties for sale in the California area.

If convicted of visa fraud, Carter faces up to 10 years in a US prison and the potential to be deported back to Australia where he faces serious criminal allegations including rape and threats to kill.