Bumbling case of serial fraudster
Exactly how and why convicted fraudster Ric Blum was able to spend decades living in Australia despite lying on his citizenship application and being convicted of crimes while overseas demands thorough investigation. On the known facts, Immigration authorities present as a department of bumbling incompetents in which the Pink Panther’s inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau, would have been right at home. Officials suspected more than four decades ago that Belgium-born Mr Blum became an Australian citizen fraudulently. But he was able to stay, obtaining at least nine Australian passports in seven different names.
As David Murray has written, a failure to act on Mr Blum may have had terrible consequences for others. Mr Blum was on a border watch list as authorities considered charging him with citizenship fraud before he had an affair with Queensland teacher Marion Barter, who vanished in 1997. Mr Blum, 83, is now a central figure in inquiries into her disappearance. He confirmed at an ongoing inquest that they had a secret relationship before she vanished. He denies knowledge of her fate, but if authorities had acted on their concerns about his criminal past years earlier it’s probable their paths would never have crossed. Immigration officials issued alerts at least twice in the 1980s that Mr Blum had entered Australia but then failed to swoop, with one of the movement alerts going to the wrong office. Allowed to stay in the country for decades on taxpayer-funded disability benefits, Mr Blum used Australia as a base for a series of alleged scams, some against women he befriended via lonely hearts ads.
Marion Barter disappearance
How deep and dark does Ric Blum’s backstory go?
He’s the shadowy figure looming over Queensland mum Marion Barter’s disappearance. Fresh claims continue to emerge painting Blum as a master manipulator.
Accused Casanova conman denies dabbling in poisons
A man who has become the focus of inquiries into a schoolteacher’s mystery disappearance has denied having an interest in poisons.
Conman dad ‘gave lessons on poisons’
A convicted conman questioned over the disappearance of a Queensland teacher spoke in horrifying detail about how to kill people with homemade poison, his daughter says.
Conman ‘gave false evidence’ about daughter
The alleged serial fraudster who denied killing Queensland teacher Marion Barter gave false evidence when he said under oath that he’d never been in contact with his daughter, witnesses say.
Curious case of alleged conman and missing coins
It’s the conman’s collection – a combination of unusual artefacts and rare coins traced back to alleged serial fraudster Ric Blum.
New claim in missing mother mystery
A convicted conman questioned over the possible murder of his missing lover – the former wife of a Socceroos legend – is facing new claims he ripped off a widow.
Deceit and duplicity: the toxic trail of Ric Blum
The stone cold mystery of missing mum Marion Barter and her secret ties to conman Ric Blum has sent sleuths into overdrive. Here’s everything we know about the case.
Blum claimed entire family ‘exterminated’
Neighbours of the convicted conman — linked to missing mum Marion Barter — tried to raise the alarm when his bizarre stories began to unravel. Other lies were more disturbing.
A 40-year con, yet citizen swindler still here
Ric Blum, a central figure in the mystery of a missing teacher, became a citizen and claimed welfare for decades despite a serious criminal history abroad.
Border alerts failed to apprehend fraudster
A convicted conman who had an affair with a Queensland teacher just before she vanished was previously on a border watch list as authorities considered charging him with citizenship fraud.
‘If authorities acted … he’d have never met mum’
Missing teacher Marion Barter’s daughter says officials should have taken action against a convicted conman when they first concluded he’d obtained his citizenship fraudulently.
Conman should never have been able to become an Australian citizen
Marion Barter’s daughter Sally Leydon has every reason to be upset, angry and frustrated over the light touch shown by authorities to Ric Blum.
Bumbling case of serial fraudster
For Immigration, Mr Blum’s presence remains unfinished business.
Blum’s victim speaks out: ‘My God, I hope he suffers’
After conman Ric Blum connived is way into her home, Andree Flamme went right to the top but was never contacted by police. She tells her story for the first time.
Conman made quick buck on coins, were they stolen from widow?
He’s a prominent figure at a missing teacher’s NSW inquest, and now serial fraudster Ric Blum has been found selling the exact same type of coins he’s accused of stealing.
Fraudster’s wife warned ‘he has a gun’
Serial conman Ric Blum’s estranged wife warned her new partner he had a gun in the car when he turned up at a Belgian ferry terminal, a new witness says.
Conman Blum ‘got me at a low point’
A woman says serial fraudster Ric Blum got her at her lowest before threatening to send intimate images of her to her family, friends and church.
Missing mum inquest extended amid new evidence
An inquest into the presumed death of Queensland mother of two Marion Barter will hold extra hearings to examine new evidence.
Conman’s $80,000 mystery ‘mugging’
Serial fraudster Ric Blum was ‘calm and relaxed’ when he told officers he had just been squeezed unconscious and robbed of €50,000 in a Gold Coast car park, police reports reveal.
Fraudster’s unguarded moment caught on camera
Momentarily left alone in a police interview room, with a camera still recording, convicted conman Ric Blum dropped his head and appeared to utter a single audible word.
Premonition of burial site sparked search for missing teacher
Police searched a rural area of NSW for the grave of missing teacher Marion Barter after a man reported a vision of where she was buried.
Australia was swindled when Mr Blum applied for permanent residence in Sydney in 1969 and failed to declare he had been jailed for six months for issuing bad cheques. From 1971 to 1974, Mr Blum served a four-year jail sentence in France for a series of fraud-related offences. And in 1976, after returning to Australia, he was granted Australian citizenship, apparently fabricating a story about being desperate to visit his dying father, who had died more than 30 years earlier.
The case of Mr Blum has been a pantomime of missed opportunity and official confusion that has had potentially tragic consequences for some of those he befriended. Mr Blum should not have been allowed to remain in Australia if authorities concluded his citizenship was fraudulently obtained. For Immigration, Mr Blum remains unfinished business.