Who the Hell is Hamish? The people involved
For decades Hamish McLaren duped victims in the US, Canada, Britain, Hong Kong and Australia. Here are some of the people you’ll hear from in the podcast.
Hamish McLaren pleaded guilty in September last year to fleecing 15 victims of more than $7 million. His sentencing, originally scheduled for February, has been delayed until a mental health assessment is finalised.
Here are the people you’ll hear about in the podcast, Who the Hell is Hamish?
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Hamish McLaren
Born Hamish Watson, also known as Hamish Earle McLaren, Hamish Phillip McLaren, Hamish Philip Watson, Hamish Maxwell and Max Tavita. A conman responsible for frauds dating back to the 1990s. Awaiting sentencing for defrauding more than a dozen victims out of $7m of their superannuation.
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Bec Rosen
Hamish’s ex-wife. They met at Blueys Beach, north of Sydney, in 2008 when Hamish was broke and Bec broken by an ugly former marriage. Hamish won Bec and her three sons over with mountains of affection. But when Bec’s father refused to sign over the deed to the family’s house, Hamish’s attention began to wander.
“He’s so good at making you feel like you are wrong and he made me believe everything,” she said.
See email exchanges between Bec and Hamish
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Jack Rosen
Bec Rosen’s son. Jack had been dating his girlfriend Jane* since they were 15 and she was treated “like a daughter” by his mother Bec Rosen, who married Hamish in 2010. Jane often stayed at the Rosen family home and Hamish offered to help his stepson’s girlfriend with career opportunities, including the possibility of a scholarship to study in the US. In the ultimate act of betrayal, Hamish began an affair with the 17-year-old, which Jane admitted to the Rosens after Bec’s marriage to Hamish had broken down in 2015.
Jack says he never suspected the relationship between Jane and Hamish. “I’m not angry or I don’t blame her for anything,” he said.
“He (McLaren) was the one with the masterplan and she was just part of it.”
Hear an extended interview with Jack Rosen
*name changed
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Peter and Lorraine Cross
A retired couple who were introduced to Hamish by their granddaughter, who was dating Hamish’s stepson Jack Rosen. Hamish treated the couple like family, referring to Lorraine, 67, as his “big sister”. Peter and Lorraine had been living debt-free before Hamish convinced them to invest their savings and superannuation and remortgage their investment properties. Hamish defrauded them of $1.1 million.
The couple had planned to use some of their savings to put their grandchildren through university and buy them their first cars.
“Now we can’t even get our own car,” Peter said.
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Matt Nable
Now a successful actor and screenwriter, Matt previously played rugby league for South Sydney and Manly. In the early 2000s Matt was Hamish’s personal trainer and witnessed first-hand Hamish’s largesse and the inconsistencies in his stories.
Hear an extended interview with Matt Nable
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Tracy Hall
Tracy was McLaren’s girlfriend at the time of his arrest and the last of his victims. A marketing executive, she knew him as Max Tavita. McLaren defrauded her of $317,000.
When they were together she had no doubt that he loved her.
“But how can you love someone knowing you are going to destroy them?” she asks.
Hear an extended interview with Tracy Hall
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Catherine Coleman
A close friend of Tracy Hall, who watched from the sidelines as Hamish wooed her friend. Cath found it almost impossible to break through the Hamish bubble, but persisted in tirelessly fact-checking all of Hamish’s stories.
Cath knew that Tracy’s divorce settlement was being finalised and thought, “He’ll take everything, I know he’ll take everything… My great concern was, ‘If this man is not who he says he is, what is he hiding?’ ”
Hear an extended interview with Cath Coleman
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Tim Watson-Munro
A criminal psychologist with 40 years experience analysing offenders in prisons. Tim hasn’t examined Hamish but listening to the podcast he believes Hamish is a psychopath who operates at the top 1 percent of offenders.
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Karen Lowe (Baker)
A victim of McLaren who accompanied him on trips to New York and London. McLaren defrauded her of almost $1m.
“(He was) charming in his Tom Ford suit and tie,” Ms Lowe said.
“He assured me that everything was going to be OK, and that’s all I needed to hear at the time. He ingratiated himself into my life, with my friends.”
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Lisa Ho
Australian fashion designer and the most prominent fraud victim of McLaren who took him to civil court and had him declared bankrupt. Ho became a rallying point for other victims. McLaren defrauded her of $850,000 but she managed to recover $500,000 through the courts.
“He infiltrated into my life like he did with so many other people,” Ho said.
“(He came) into all of our lives, actually, not just mine, my-ex, my children.”
Hear an extended interview with Lisa Ho
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Neville Summach
The son of an entrepreneur whose family inherited millions from selling farming equipment. Neville met Hamish in a luxury car dealership in Kelowna where they were the only two to get the Mercedes ‘McLaren’. Neville has the unfortunate title of being the victim who had the most money misappropriated by Hamish in a single transaction - $2m.
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James Leigh
A Canadian security consultant who used to work in US Intelligence and for Homeland Security. James claims to be able to collect stolen funds which cannot be recovered by conventional methods.
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Dean Stone
Met Hamish when both were skiing in Canada. Dean was duped into using his construction company Stonehouse to build Hamish’s houses in British Columbia, on Silver Star Mountain and on the Okanagan Lake near Kelowna.
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Nick Park
Now an options trader was a Futures trader in the 90s on the Sydney Futures Exchange floor where he met Hamish, who was a local trader not working for anybody. Nick described Hamish as a ‘one lot wonder’, who would only trade one or two positions but pretended he traded a lot bigger. Hamish’s outlanding stories were the joke of the trading floor.
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Adrian Van Diemen
Adelaide businessman who invested $3m with Hamish Watson through his company Advan. Hamish alleged to manage these investments including the purchase of Harts Australasia shares, through companies associated with him Watson Benefit Services and Blackshort. Both would be named in the investigation by ASIC and liquidated in an attempt to recover funds. Adrian sued Hamish, and Lisa Ho’s lawyers used the court case as a basis for their investigation into Hamish’s dodgy dealings.
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Elisabeth Sexton
Investigated the Harts Australasia collapse writing for the Sydney Morning Herald. Lis joined the dots between Steve Hart, Saxon Looker, $5m that went missing from Harts and an account operated by Hamish Watson.
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Nicole Mozes
A victim who met Hamish while receiving treatment at an energy healing clinic in Sydney. Nicole never even knew Hamish’s last name, but became close friends with him and another energy healer, Anna Terren. Nicole lost almost $800,000 to Hamish’s schemes.
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Glenn Pickard
Miner Glenn Pickard was introduced to Hamish McLaren by friends who’d also invested with him. Pickard and his wife Vickie were fleeced of $600,000, forcing Pickard to delay his retirement. Pickard said the financial loss led to ongoing trust issues and a strain on his 32-year marriage.
“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.”
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Phil McLaren
Who the hell is Phil?
Phil was the purported identical twin of Hamish McLaren, who claimed he killed Phil in an accident in adolescence by backing a car over him. Hamish told this to multiple people, including his fiance in the 1990s. Hamish would display faked photos of them together.
Phillip is Hamish’s father’s name as well as Hamish’s middle name, Hamish Phillip McCrae Watson, before he changed it multiple times.
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Do you know more? hamishpodcast@theaustralian.com.au