Darwin Infinity Music Festival conman accused of faking his own death to avoid backlash after latest scam

A SERIAL conman behind the Darwin Infinity Music Festival sham is facing claims he attempted to fake his own death.

Dene Mussillon Infinity Music Festival director Dene Mussillon - also known as Dene Broadbelt and Dene Morgan - has been dubbed a "conman" and left a trail of unpaid bills and victims in his wake.

A SERIAL conman behind the Darwin Infinity Music Festival sham is facing claims he attempted to fake his own death by posing as a former colleague and releasing a bizarre statement to media.

NSW man Dene Broadbelt, 22, was mistakenly reported dead by leading Australian radio news website radioinfo.com.au earlier this week after the company reportedly received an email announcing the former jock had committed suicide on Saturday.

“Dene Broadbelt was a talented young man who led a troubled life,” radioinfo.com.au reported.

“The authorities were closing in on him for a trail of debt he had allegedly left in his wake following a succession of failed business ventures.”

The story was later amended when it was brought to the company’s attention that Mr Broadbelt had been seen alive on Sunday and that the email was a scam.

Radioinfo editor Peter Saxon said based on history it appeared the “suicide” email was probably written by Mr Broadbelt.

“We took the story down saying we hadn’t been able to verify the source,” Mr Saxon said.

The fake death notice reportedly came after Mr Broadbelt was contacted by a local newspaper in regional Victoria in relation to allegations he was fraudulently operating as a real estate agent in Timboon. The statement was attributed to a former colleague of Mr Broadbelt but it is understood the man was not involved and did not write the message.

“I have to inform every one of the sad news that Dene Broadbelt, died unexpectedly on Saturday night when he took his own life,” the statement read.

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“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.

“Our grief and confusion at this time are little compared to what Dene’s family must be feeling. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

“His mother Suzanne can be contacted on her mobile 04******** for further details in regards to his funeral and service although we do request you refrain from contacting her unless the matter is urgent due to the current situation.

“Although it was stated in his suicide letter that was discovered the words ‘Noel Sadler was the reason behind this and he will get his day and I’ve made sure of that’ he also mentioned 2DU & ZOO FM’s Chris Mathieson as an idol and a person he looked up to and also thanked him for being the backbone of his radio career.”

Skip Film Productions and whistleblower Noel Sadler said Mr Broadbelt still owed him thousands of dollars in unpaid services.

“He’s just never going to stop because he keeps getting away with whatever he wants,” Mr Sadler told the NT News.

“He will probably become very rich at the expense of everybody else or he will cross somebody who won’t ask questions.”

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Mr Broadbelt is expected to step out the shadows for a sit down interview with The Standard in Warrnambool today.

The Standard journalist Peter Collins said he spoke with Mr Broadbelt on the phone on Thursday to arrange the meeting.

“He said he wanted to go straight and that the reason he keeps changing his names is because people keep chasing him,” Mr Collins said.

“He said he didn’t write the email (saying he was dead) and said he’s taking legal action against radioinfo.com.au. ”

It is understood Mr Broadbelt has successfully applied for bankruptcy listing debts of about $250,000.

The NT News reported in April last year that Mr Broadbelt had left a trail of unpaid bills totalling more than $150k in Sydney, Central Coast, Brisbane, Perth, Ulladulla, Alice Springs and Goulburn before turning his sights on Darwin with a bogus electro music festival.

The event later collapsed but Mr Broadbelt — who goes by several names including Dene Mussillon and Harrison O’Connor and has falsely posed as a real estate agent, Channel 9 cameraman and various other professionals — continued his elaborate scams across the country.

Dream Media Darwin managing director Chris O’Brien was among Mr Broadbelt’s victims.

“He owes us around $21,000 for camera equipment we sent him to Alice Springs for a job he said he was doing for Channel 9,” Mr O’Brien said. “We filed a report with police.”

Mr Broadbelt was the subject of an ongoing police investigation in NSW last year. Police were unable to disclose the status of the investigation on Thursday due to “privacy laws”.

Victoria Police said they couldn’t release details about individual cases.