All language subtitles for Serial.Swindlers.S01E03.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG

(mellow upbeat music)

- That has no morals,
and is quite happy to

ruin families, ruin individuals.

- He's an experienced con man.

He's just a slippery eel.

- He was always
flashing money around,

like there was no reason
for us not to believe.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Loizos Michaels
is a deceitful swindler

who was so confident
of evading justice

he called himself the Phantom.

Targeting some of New
Zealand's most powerful men

from rugby legend Jonah
Lomu to senior politicians

and high level businessmen,
Michaels conned them all.

He also claimed to be a
member of the Greek Mafia

with links to the Japanese
Yakuza and Hell's Angels.

(dramatic music)

- He was talking with
some crazy was it criminal

underworld figures in Japan.

Michaels would say,
"This is Uncle."

- Hello, Uncle.

- And, he didn't talk on
the phone, no he insisted

he talked using some sort
of form of ear implant.

- He'd all of a sudden
say, "Oh, hang on, yes?"

As if they were communicating
to him in some sort of way.

- [Narrator] Dozens of
people were sucked into

the fantasy world of
the self-styled Mafioso.

(dramatic music)

Michaels moved to
Auckland in 2006.

He began plotting a complex
fraud one that would

bag him 3.2 million dollars.

Matt Nippert is a senior
reporter at Fairfax Business Day

who covered the case
as it began to unfold.

- Michaels had arrived in
New Zealand in December 2006.

He arrived to meet up
with his wife who'd moved

sometime earlier after,
it's said, to be with

his wife's sick parents.

Caroline was married
to Michaels, I think,

in 2005 in Australia.

She was told by him
that she was a Cypriot.

He had a family connection
to a large shipping line.

He had a seat on
the board over there

and was due a very
large inheritance.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Beguiled by
Michaels Caroline encouraged

her father and ailing mother
to invest their life savings

in his schemes.

His first business venture
was Trades R Us Limited.

- Michaels appears to
have dipped his toes into

a couple of legitimate
businesses, Trades R Us

which had Caroline's name was on

all the company documentation.

He's some sort of
hub for trades,

some plumbers,
carpenters, electricians.

- [Narrator] Caroline's
family gave him $50,000,

their life savings.

With growing confidence Michaels
then bought a restaurant.

He named it Plato's Tavern,
a flashy Greek place

that only took cash.

Michael's used it as
his very own mafia den.

- Michaels created a world,
I suppose it could only

be described as a
fantasy world, where he

portrayed himself as a
godfather type figure

with a lot of wealth.

He would surround
himself with minders

that would look
intimidating and to make

himself look bigger
than life, I suppose.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Michaels
was a heavy gambler

and Christchurch Casino
was New Zealand's

first and largest.

It was here he met one
of his biggest victims,

Stephen Lyttelton.

Michaels came to
the casino in 2007

acting like a high roller.

Christchurch Casino
captured him placing

massive bets on
its CCTV cameras.

(dramatic music)

- He was down there in
Christchurch gambling,

I think, $15,000 a day.

He was spending so
much money he kind of

quickly came to the attention
of the casino authorities

who gave him VIP status,
offering him free drinks,

accomodation and then
they paid for his flights

down from Auckland.

- We first heard that
Stephen had received some

amazing offer to go join with
the Ho family organization.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Stephen's
brother Martin thought

Loizos Michaels was a key
player in the casino industry.

His brother said
Michaels had offered him

the job of lifetime
at Stanley Ho's Melco

Crown Casino in MaCau.

(mellow music)

- Stephen had a successful
career down there

running the casino operation
down in Christchurch.

What I now know is that
it was a vulnerability

there with Stephen.

He was acting chief executive
officer at the casino,

but it appears he'd
been passed over

for the permanent role.

- He struck up a
friendship with Lyttelton.

Realized Lyttelton was
unhappy with his job

and promised him a new
one, a new one that

would pay him $12
million a year running

several casinos in MaCau.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Michaels offered
Lyttelton and his deputy

at Christchurch
casino Peter Arbuckle

another tantalizing opportunity.

He asked them to help
with his take over bid

for the sky City Casino.

- They just weren't
middle managers.

Steve Lyttelton was
earning $400,000 a year

as chief executive of
the Christchurch Casino.

And, he quit that to move
up to a motel in Auckland

to work on this
purported takeover.

- [Narrator] The motel was 35
kilometers outside Auckland,

far from Stephen's
brother Martin,

no where near the casino.

- He'd take Stephen,
isolated him from his family,

isolated him from his friends.

And, we were all wondering
what was going on.

- [Narrator] One of New
Zealand's most famous

sports stars was also dragged
into Michael's schemes.

Kevin Milne is a veteran
New Zealand broadcaster

known for his consumer
protection show, Fair Go.

- This restaurant used
to be called Platos,

owned by Loizos Michaels.

(bell rings)

The background to
it really was that

he had set up a big event
called KO World Series.

He had hired eight models to
do promotional work for him.

- [Narrator] Michaels owned
them $20,000 but never paid.

The models contacted the Fair
Go presenter to get help.

(dramatic music)

We insisted on going in
there then with the camera

rolling to catch this
guy and talk to him

about the money that he
owed all these models.

So, I walked in there
with the camera rolling

behind me, nervous as
anything to be honest

because I'd never struck
anybody where I'd had

so many warnings about a man.

As soon as we got in
there Michaels saw me

and the cameraman and ordered
the cameraman out of here.

And, he took me through
to a back room in here,

a very dark back room.

And, we wandered in for a chat.

Astounding thing is we
get in there and says,

"Of course you'll
know this man."

And, it was the great
Jonah Lomu, the greatest

rugby player
possibly of all time.

- [Narrator] Unbeknown to
Kevin Milne Lomu had signed

a massive contract
with Michaels to front

the same kickboxing event.

- Michaels promised Jonah
an enormous contract.

I think it's the
region of $20 million

to sort of front a new
kickboxing venture.

Lomu signed contracts,
thought he was in for

a big payday and went
to a lot of meetings

with Michaels at Platos
where, strangely enough

kickboxing wasn't
really discussed.

And, as it turns out
Michaels had invited

a lot of other people
to these meetings

including senior
lawyers and the like.

And, a lot of it seems
to have been used

as a very, very
convenient sort of badge

of credibility by Michaels.

- We sat down and
discussed the fact that

he owed money.

So, he gave me $4,000, check,
and Jonah in the meantime

was still pacing around,
he was very nervous.

He kept standing up and
sitting down and swearing

and walking around the room.

As it turns out I learned
later on that Johan

was owed a huge amount of
money by Loizos Michaels,

a huge amount and that's
why he was so angry.

- [Narrator] Back at TVNZ
Kevin Milne was still

trying to chase
the model's money.

- So, when the check
bounced I insisted that

we only receive cash from him.

If he was gonna
pay us we wanted it

in cold hard cash.

And, to be honest,
I never expected to
get any money at all.

I remember on the night
that we ran the follow up

story about him
suddenly about a minute

before we start recording
I get a call from reception

saying "a young man
has just turned up here

"with an envelope that's got
your name on the envelope."

When I get down there it's
obviously not Loizos himself

and in it is $4,000
in $20 notes.

And, as for the money
well I suppose he just

didn't want anyone to be
able to trace him in any way.

- [Narrator] Michaels
was juggling his scams,

having avoided being
exposed as a fraudster

on national TV Michaels
also had Stephen Lyttelton

in the palm of his hand.

Lyttleton was investing
huge sums into

the imaginary casino venture.

And, when he ran out of
money Michaels told him

to approach friends and family.

- Litters him with
call of his friends

and he had some quite
well placed friends.

He had a Goodfellow
that's as close as you get

to an aristocrat
in this country.

He's the president of the
ruling national party and he's

an heir and director to the
Sanford fishing fortune.

- What Michaels was able
to do was to get Stephen

to bring Gerry Brownlee,
Peter Goodfellow

and myself on board
in support of Stephen

because we were all
positive about him

having an opportunity
in front of him.

- [Narrator] Ex-Labor cabinet
minister John Tamihere

was another politician
who was invited to join

the Sky City takeover
that Michaels claimed

to be organizing.

(dramatic music)

- I did of investigation
myself and found out

that sure enough, Gerry
Brownlee, one of the senior

ministers in the present
national government

had been drawn into his
network 'cause no one

would thought that Lyttleton,
because of his connection,

Brownlee because of his
intelligence gathering capacity

through the government,
and Arbuckle being

a savvy accountant would
have done their due diligence

and wouldn't be part
of this guy's mob,

evidence stack up.

And so, good fraudsters
pack around them,

good image makers, don't they?

And so, that's the Greek did.

I thought for a guy
that was going to drive

a multi-million dollar
take over that his

business practice was
at least inadequate.

And, the reason for that
was you meet in a bar

and then he introduced
all the players.

And, I said him, "Well,
who are your solicitors?"

And, he named a big
firm in town, so I said,

"Who's your partner?"

Well, he couldn't name
the partner off hand.

The things that started
to send weird signals up,

one of them his state of dress.

It wasn't great, I think
he was still wearing

zip up shoes, this is a problem.

And, the way he
used to name drop.

- [Narrator] Others
were starting to smell

a rat about Michaels including
Stephen Lyttelton's brother.

- Stephen set up a
meeting in order that

I could satisfy myself
that Michaels was genuine.

The story being that
he was a member of

a great shipping family,
enormously wealthy,

tied up with the whole
family and a pack

of family in Australia.

So, I meet with them
both at a local cafe

in Rem-ee-weir and
that's a meeting that's

stuck in my mind.

Michaels then came
over, sat with us,

and my alarm bells just
absolutely went off.

It was absolutely over the top.

But Stephen was completely
enthralled by him,

was enthralled by the
opportunity that he had

in front of him and really
wasn't thinking clearly.

I went home, spoke
to my wife, and said

"The man's a fraudster
and what are we gonna do?"

(ship horn honking)

- [Narrator] At the same
time the president of

the national party,
Peter Goodfellow,

was also getting suspicious.

He asked to meet Michaels for
lunch by the Viaduct Harbor.

- Like me, instantly
recognized that Michaels

was a fraudster.

Shoes scuffed, things like that,

things that just didn't
add up for a supposedly

wealthy Greek shipping
family member.

- [Narrator] It was at
that point Peter Goodfellow

hired private investigator
Gary Howarth to find out

the truth about who
this man really was.

- Started off doing our
normal database searches

which led to property
searches, credit checks,

public information checks
which really drew a blank.

Mister Michaels, he really
did not have a footprint

anywhere that we could find.

- He said, "I was
originally born on Cyprus"

and moved to Australia
when he was seven

where he initially
sold newspapers.

And, he said he got
interested in the stock market

by reading the stock tables.

- Michaels was an
unusual character,

but one we actually didn't
even know his correct name

and found out that he
had about five versions

of his name.

We had no photo of
Michaels and in fact we

eventually managed to
come across a photo of

a phone that one of his
victim's had taken unbeknown

to him, and that was our
first look at Mister Michaels.

(dramatic music)

We discovered that Mister
Michaels spent a lot

of time at a restaurant
and a cafe on Saint Road

here in Auckland.

Again, we actually put
some surveillance on him

just to see what his
dealings were, and where he

was going and what he was up to.

He basically used this
cafe as his office.

Most business where it
actually happened down

on the street and it
was almost like a scene

out of the Sopranos where
there were comings and goings

but quite the scene there.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] As he dug
further into Michaels' life

Gary Howarth uncovered
an audacious scam

eight years earlier in
Queensland, Australia.

No one in New Zealand had
known that Michaels had form.

(mellow music)

A regular at the races
Michaels met another punter

who owned a film stunt studio.

He began lining up
Salt Water Films

as his next target
around the same time as

he started courting his
future wife, caroline.

(dramatic music)

- We had a brand new
stunt studio built.

And Chris, he brought
Marco LaRey on an investor.

- We will see a lot of
you and you will see

a lot of us, and we'd
like to welcome you

to our extended family.

(dramatic music)

- Well he said he knew a
lot of people in America.

He knew big
producers, directors,

and I'd send him the
script and they reckon that

we don't do the
script they will.

He was always flashing
money around, like there was

no reason to for
us not to believe.

And then, the money side
of it was buying shares.

We buy shares now and we're
top of the list sort of thing

and we'll make our
money that way.

- He obviously had a lot
of cash and it turned out

later that well he had a
lot of people in Australia

wanting their cash back.

- [Narrator] Always playing
on people's vulnerabilities

Michaels also convinced
Phil Oates he could be cured

of his multiple sclerosis.

- Because I've got MS he
told us there was a friend

of his who was a doctor
in Cyprus who was making

leaps and bounds
in MS to fix it.

Anyway, he telling me then
that he would be sending

me over there to meet
this guy and try out

some of his treatments.

- So, he's a really interesting
character and he seems

to have this amazing
ability to listen to people,

realize what their
hopes and dreams are

and then present himself as
the vehicle to achieve them.

- It was all going
to be free at first.

I said, "I can't afford this."

he said, "No, no no," he says,
"I'll look after all that."

And, as it got near the end
it was like, "oh, listen gent,

"I need 20 grand" or
15 grand or something.

But he said, "We gotta
show good faith."

- [Narrator] All this
time Phil thought that

Michaels was a good friend.

- But as a person he
was always smiling.

A lot of the ideas that he
had were damn good ideas.

He was a likable chap,
like he really was.

Like, he had the gift
of the gab, obviously.

- [Narrator] It wasn't until
the two of them set off,

apparently for Cyprus
for Phil's treatment

that the truth began to emerge.

- While we were driving down
Townsville, unbeknown to me,

he was talking to Sharon,
my partner saying that

there was a hit out on me
and that I've been kidnapped

and they were
demanding some money.

So Sharon's gotta get 15 grand.

I think it was, off her
mother to give to Michael.

(dramatic music)

You look back on it now
you think just how stupid

you were 'cause it
was that many triggers

that looking over that how
12 months where you thinK

yeah we should have
called him on that,

we should have
called him on this.

So yeah, I gave him money
and then a bit more later on

and then it was a loan.

And, all these things
just went on and on

and before you know it
it was 120 grand gone.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Years after
the Salt Water Films scam

Australian police got
wind of fresh allegations

against Michaels, this time
in Melbourne, Victoria.

- I was first alerted to
Loizos Michaels probably

back in August 2007
when I received a file

from New Zealand in
relation to Western Union

transfers that were
occurring from Melbourne

to New Zealand.

That money was
going to a (mumbles)

by the name of George
Plakas which they believed

was for the purpose
of an investment

on the New Zealand
stock exchange.

- [Narrator] Plakas
was Michaels' long time

friend and accomplice,
described by many as

a lieutenant to the main man.

- As we continued the
investigation and started

speaking to people the
name of Loizos Michaels

began to appear.

One of the victims, Dimitrius
Demetriou, initially

invested money in the
Pudin-call Auction scam

with a view gaining
returns for his own little

motive which was to better
the life of his son.

- [Narrator] Dimitrius' son
Arthur has Cerebral Palsy.

He needs daily help with
clothing and feeding himself.

- He knew exactly why I
wanted to make some money

through the investment
scheme that he had

so that I could perhaps,
potentially treat

my son over seas.

And so, these people, Loizos
and George, are very good

at leveraging on people's
emotions and their need.

And, at one instance I was in
hospital after an operation

and he still came by my
bedside asking for money

and that shows the callousness
and the lack of care.

It was gonna be a very
short term investment,

sure fire thing and then one
week turned into two weeks

and two weeks
turned into a month,

and a month turned into
four or five years.

- Dimitrius Demetriou
was one of the victims

who I spoke to regularly
and alerted me of Loizos.

Told me about a meeting he
actually had with Loizos

here in Melbourne where
Loizos handed over two checks

one which was a sum of
approximately $43 million

to supposedly make
Dimitrius feel that

this was all legitimate.

- And we had a
meeting in Carnegie at

another person's home.

Loizos had two minders
from New Zealand guarding

the front of the home.

And, in the meeting
he produced two checks

which we tried to take
to the bank and see

if they were legitimate, and
they, of course, weren't.

And, at that point it was
like game over for us.

All up, it was
something like $250,000.

So, it was a huge loss
but we're trying to

get on with our lives and
make the best of what we have.

He's a very charismatic
character, very smooth.

He's obviously an
experienced con man because

he knows exactly what to
say, exactly what to do.

He's got an answer
for everything.

He's just a slippery eel.

- He has this belief
and it was commonly used

around his associates
that he was the Phantom,

that no one was ever
going to catch him.

And, he believed that and
what reason he believed that

was 'cause he was always
distancing himself

from the real crime
and having other people

put their name to it.

It drove me to make sure
that one day the day

would come that he would
actually be put in jail.

- [Narrator] Back in New
Zealand Stephen Lyttleton

had now given more than
one million dollars

in cash to Michaels.

He was still living
at the motel believing

he would soon be on a
multi-million dollar salary

at the new casino
venture in MaCau.

People around Stephen
were increasinglt worried

about is involvement with
a man that everyone else

could see was a fake.

(mellow music)

- It took us some time to
convince Stephen Lyttleton

that he was actually
dealing with a fraudster.

Even in that time he
still had some involvement

with Michaels to try
to get money repaid.

And it stayed, it was around
a bout the one million

dollar mark that he put into
Mister Michaels' business.

(thunders)

- What Michaels did is
actually took Stephen out

of the country and planted
him up in Hong Kong,

so he clearly knew that the
end of it all was coming.

So, he isolated Stephen
right away from us.

And ultimately, the
breakthrough happened

up in Hong Kong where
Stephen rang and confessed

that he'd worked out that he'd
been completely defrauded.

This led that there
was no truth to

what Michaels was saying.

- He was worn out,
exhausted, ready to

go back to New Zealand.

He didn't know which way
to turn and it took him

a long time to start
to rebuild his life.

- It almost appears like
Lyttleton had to undergo

cult deprogramming to be sort
of separated from Loizos.

So effectively, thrown
away his own life savings,

and his career, and
his credibility.

- It had a huge
impact on our family.

In my case it actually
was one of the causes

of me having a mental
health breakdown,

for Stephen catastrophic.

And, Stephen's wife has
just been phenomenal.

Without her Stephen
wouldn't have survived.

(ship horn blows)

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] The con man's
scams were beginning to unravel.

Gary Howarth's folder
of evidence was given to

the Serious Fraud Office, and
in 2010 Michaels was arrested.

But, that still didn't stop him.

- The case against
Loizos got to point where

he was fully charged,
he was granted bail

and then given a leave
of absence to fly home

to Australia ostensibly
to see his sick mother.

Only he refused to come back.

- It all began to come
to an end for Loizos

after he left New Zealand
and came to Australia.

I was in touch with
New Zealand and knew of

an extradition warrant that
they were putting together.

That drove me to ensure
that I knew where Loizos

was gonna be and throughout
his time in Australia

I was very confident
that I knew where he was.

I made contact with
the federal agents

and was receiving a
lot of information

as to the exact
whereabouts of Loizos

which I was relaying
by mobile phone

to the agents on the ground.

And eventually, they found
him in a shopping mall.

We then approached him
and even at that stage

he denied who he was.

He was clinging onto
every little hope he had

but it all came to an end.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Loizos
Michaels was extradited to

New Zealand to face
trial in the city where

he had swindled so many.

- Look, in the court case
it was just a bloody circus.

And, he was like a
court jester 'cause he

just loves the theater.

And so, he was brought on
a stage playing the game.

- [Narrator] When he took
the stand Michaels' defense

was he was the victim
and 50 Crown witnesses

had conspired with the Serious
Fraud Office against him.

- He can make everything
fit into that square hole,

that's what you're
doing and it's not true.

- [Narrator] To strengthen
the case in the absence

of a paper trail Phil Oates
was called from Australia

as a witness.

- When I had to walk
out I just stared at him

'cause I had to
walk right past him.

And, I looked right
into his face he turned

away like that.

He was like, and that sort
of made me feel good, too.

I'd like to be put
in a room with him.

(mellow music)

- [Narrator] Loizos
Michaels was found guilty

on all 30 counts and sentenced
to eight years in prison.

He's now appealing the
verdict and the sentence.

- Michaels was just
in complete denial

right throughout the trial.

I think he's just
utterly delusional.

He has no morals and
is quite happy to

ruin families, ruin individuals.

All in all Michaels
swindled 3.2 million dollars

out of victims in New Zealand.

It's thought he conned
millions more in Australia.

But, the true sum
may never be known.

Now, the self-proclaimed
Phantom has all the time

in the world to
spin his fantasies

in his new life behind bars.

(mellow music)

(mellow upbeat music)