Hamish McLaren: victims fleeced of cash now robbed of sentencing closure

Glenn Pickard and his wife Vickie were among victims preparing to celebrate the sentencing of fraud Hamish McLaren | LISTEN NOW TO EPISODE 2

Convicted fraudster Hamish McLaren.

Miner Glenn Pickard and his wife Vickie were among a host of victims preparing to celebrate the sentencing of fraud Hamish ­McLaren yesterday, only to be ­disappointed.

McLaren pleaded guilty in September of fleecing 15 victims of more than $7 million, but his scheduled sentencing yesterday was delayed until a mental health assessment is finalised.

Like many victims, the Pickards were introduced to McLaren by friends who’d also invested with him. They were fleeced of $600,000, forcing Mr Pickard to delay his retirement.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop blaming myself,” Mr Pickard told The Australian. “I just blame ­myself for being so damned stupid. He was a very, very good talker.”

Mr Pickard was close to retiring when he met McLaren but has been forced to return to work.

“It’s probably put me back about 10 to 15 years and I don’t know when I’m going to retire now,” he said.

“Had I not met Hamish, I probably would’ve been (down the coast) surfing and fishing and doing all the good things in life — but that’s not how it’s eventuated.”

Mr Pickard shared his story with journalist Greg Bearup for the latest episode of The Australian ’s podcast, Who The Hell is Hamish? to be released this ­afternoon.

The Pickards’ friends, Peter and Lorraine Cross, who were also under the spell of the fraud, and believed they were making huge profits on their investment, vouched for McLaren.

The vote of trust, as well as ­McLaren’s professional demeanour, gave Mr Pickard confidence his money would be well looked after.

“He knew exactly what he was talking about, showing me figures and everything,” he said.

“I thought he was the real deal.”

But the fraudster’s knack of ­assuming different names and identities across decades and continents made it difficult for Mr Pickard to find out more about McLaren, born Hamish Watson, also known as Max Tavita.

After a meeting in Sydney in September 2013, the Pickards transferred $425,000 of their super to McLaren to invest.

According to a statement of facts, agreed to by McLaren, who pleaded guilty to 18 charges, the funds were never invested and were instead transferred between accounts of other investors.

The people involved

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By December, McLaren sent an email stating that the couple had made a $21,326 profit.

Two months later, he ­approached them with what he described as a good short-term ­investment opportunity.

McLaren claimed a geologist friend working in the Panguna gold mine in Papua New Guinea had discovered errors in previous tests that meant the mothballed mine was about to become very profitable.

Promised a six-week turnaround, the Pickards redrew $200,000 on their home loan and ostensibly bought shares at a price of 9c.

A month later, McLaren told them the shares had risen in value to 96c and later $2.02, meaning their investment had blown out to beyond $2 million.

Police later discovered the shares were never bought. The mine, owned by Bougainville Copper, has not been operational since the 1980s.

“He was forever promising this, promising that,” Mr Pickard said.

“We started to smell a rat and wanted all our money back and of course it never eventuated.”

McLaren paid back some money in “dribs and drabs”, but the Pickards remain $607,000 out of pocket.

“I don’t believe (McLaren) spent it all,” Mr Pickard said. “He’s certainly got it stashed somewhere.”

Mr Pickard said the financial loss led to ongoing trust issues and a strain on his 32-year marriage.

“I don’t really know what I’d say to him (if I saw him),” he said. “But then again, I don’t really think he gives a rat’s arse.”