Aussie conman: ‘I didn’t fake my own death’

AN email was sent to media outlets on Tuesday informing us that known fraudster Dene Broadbelt was dead. We spoke to him yesterday.

‘Dene died on Saturday’

HE’s a known conman and on Tuesday a bizarre email was sent to media outlets claiming he had taken his own life.

“I have to inform everyone of the sad news that Dene Broadbelt, died unexpectedly on Saturday night when he took his own life,” the email read. “There is to be a memorial service held ASAP (date and time will be announced as soon as possible). We would ask that Dene’s final wishes are observed, and there are to be no flowers, donations to World Vision would be welcomed instead,” read the email supplied by Tone Deaf.

But, not all is as it seems because news.com.au has spoken with Mr Broadbelt, 21, and he is very much alive and well.

Since leaving his short-lived regional radio career, the smooth-talking fraudster racked up a long list of unpaid debts during a series of dubious business schemes across Australia.

Working under aliases of Dean Mussillon, Nic Lloyd, Clay O’Connor and Harrison O’Connor, the serial fraudster impersonated a DJ talent agency chief, a music promoter for a travelling festival and a filmmaker involved in a charity cancer walk program for Channel Seven in the outback.

It was during these scams, he duped victims to obtain goods and services with no intention of paying and by July last year, he had reportedly incurred more than $120,000 of debts.

While Mr Broadbelt openly acknowledges his shady past, he claims the bizarre email sent this week regarding his death was not sent by him and is in fact part of a vendetta against him.

“I am the first to admit I have made silly mistakes in the past and racked up large debts,” he told news.com.au from his home in Timboon in southwest Victoria.

“I have since tried to move on and have successfully applied for bankruptcy listing debts of about $250,000.

“It seems this isn’t enough for some people and my family and I are constantly bombarded with threats.”

Dene Broadbelt.

Mr Broadbelt said the latest debacle was just the latest in a long list of personal attacks.

“There has been a Facebook group set up that is an attack on me and I have lost four jobs after people emailed my bosses and informed them of my past,” he said.

“All I want to do is get rid of the rumours and start a new life.

“I have been in contact with the Victorian police this week and if I had done something wrong, don’t you think I would have been arrested?”

However, one of Mr Broadbelt’s victims, Sydney filmmaker Noel Sadler, isn’t convinced he has turned over a new leaf.

“He has been scamming people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars when he doesn’t have the finance or business experience to pay for the services he hires,” he said.

“A little over 12 months ago I shot a TV commercial for him and started to smell a rat when he wanted the footage before he paid.

“I looked into him and found his past. I also found out the company he had me make the commercial for didn’t even exist.”

The series of events has turned the little town of Timboon on its head.

According to The Warrnambool Standard Mr Broadbelt, operating under the alias of Harrison Eyles, the managing director of a business called Coast and Country Real Estate, recently attempted to lease a shopfront, order motor vehicles, and even held face-to-face interviews with people.

Feeling uneasy about the claims made by Mr Broadbelt, one of his prospective employees decided to do some research and found out about his colourful past.

“I thought he was dodgy from the start,” the prospective employee told The Warrnambool Standard.

“On Monday night when we figured it out we sent him a message saying we knew about his past. Fifteen minutes later his phone was down and his Facebook page gone.”

Since then, the local IGA has been plastered with pictures of Mr Broadbelt, outing him as a fraudster.

A spokesman from Timboon Motors who dealt with Mr Broadbelt said everything seemed legitimate during the meeting.

A still from the famous conman movie, Catch Me If You Can, with Leonardo DiCaprio.

“I’m not angry; I just think it’s sad he’s doing this. I think the young bloke’s just putting his hand out for help,” he said.

“There are people out there in the world doing worse than this guy, I’m not saying it’s good and he needs to be held accountable, but there’s obviously a bigger issue.”

Corangamite Shire Mayor Chris O’Connor said he found the whole situation to be quite bizarre.

“Seems as though he was Frank Abagnale from Catch Me If You Can, but he was obviously not as smart,” he said referencing the 2012 movie about a real-life US conman.

“We are a tight-knit community, so it’s not the best place for him to try and run a scam because it would come unstuck pretty quickly.

“If I could send a message it would be don’t take us for fools.”

The Port Campbell police have said they have been in contact with Mr Broadbelt, but no action has been taken.

For help or information call Lifeline 131 114 or beyondblue 1300 224 636.