August 4, 2024 • 40 mins
Alan’s wife Mary Metcalfe is now the boss of Safe Worlds. Many investors are unhappy. Authorities are circling and a so-called Irish billionaire enters the scene with staggering promises.
The Missing $49 Million is an eight-part investigative series by news.com.au, hosted by award-winning finance reporter Alex Turner-Cohen.
Got a tip? Email us: Missingmillions@news.com.au
Read more on this story at news.com.au
Subscribe to Crime X+ listen to this podcast ad-free.
Follow us on socials: Instagram: @newscomauhq Facebook: News.com.au TikTok: @news.com.au
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yeah, Hi, Mary, I think we spoke.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, how did it go so wrong to have a
journalist knocking on your door on a quiet Gold Coast
street in the middle of the day. There's someone else
tangled in the complicated web of Allan Metcalf. They've been
on the periphery of my investigation until now. It's time
she takes center stage. Buckle in, because this story is
(00:34):
about to go from the already pretty bizarre to outright ridiculous.
I'm Alex Turner Cohen, a finance and investigative reporter from
news dot com DoD AU, and you're listening to the
Missing forty nine Million. This is episode five, Mother Mary.
(01:10):
After Allan's death, his followers feared their investment was gone,
all forty nine million dollars of it. They expected the
business to shut down forever. But then Alan's wife, Mary
Metcalf took over. They went back to hoping and praying
that the hard earned money they'd handed over would once
again be returned to them at a hefty profit. But
(01:32):
what happened afterwards? And can Mary help with the search
for the money?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
But the time will come when I will get out
there and promote all the things that Alan had achieving
true artificial intelligence when the.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Time is right.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
This is Mary speaking at her husband's funeral in twenty seventeen,
when she was sixty eight years old. Her son Clayton
Metcalf was also going to help out.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Clayton I pledged we commit to commercialize this technology and
take it to the world to fulfill his dream. I
know that this sounds impossible, but Jesus said, with men,
it's impossible, but not with God. For with God all
things are possible. We have the faith and we call
(02:18):
upon God and your prayers for this to come true.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Just five days after her husband's death, Mary emailed shareholders
reassuring them of her plans for the company. Throughout this episode,
we're using a voice actor to read out Mary's emails,
so keep in mind these are her words, but not
her voice.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I have been the company's CFO from the beginning, working
closely alongside Allan, and I am totally familiar with all
aspects of the Safe World's TV project. I have committed
to take over Allan's work to establish this company as
he intended, with the help of my son Clayton Metcalf.
The finest celebration of his legacy is that all of
(03:01):
us who can now pledge to liberate this gift to
benefit humanity.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Mary seemed to genuinely believe in what her late husband
had started. She even titled the video of Allan's funeral
as stay Strong and Keep the Faith. But investors were nervous.
They wondered how someone other than Alan could run a
project of this magnitude. Michael Blake, the sporting star who
invested three hundred thousand dollars, hadn't thought of Mary as
(03:31):
the chief financial officer of Safe Worlds. He'd seen her
as the office manager.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Alan was hands on on the software and doing interviews,
trying to raise money, doing all the meetings, and Mary
is probably in charge of the office and all the paperwork,
the admin, you know, all the stuff that has to
be done.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Mary had been at Alan's side for much of his life.
She tagged along with him on his business trips to
the US, and her signature was on the hundreds of
share certificates issued right next to Allan's. He had signed
as chief executive of Safe Worlds and she had signed
as its secretary. I want to know more about Mary
metcalf I found out so much about her late husband,
(04:14):
but what about the woman herself? This is what comes
up after I searched the Internet. Originally from Hungary, she
moved to Australia with her family when she was ten
and changed her name from Maria to Mary. Alan became
her life partner when she was seventeen. The Age newspaper
called her a prominent national party housewife in a nineteen
(04:35):
eighty article. She was also the publisher of Townsville Woman,
one of several magazines Alan launched, which went bust in
the nineteen eighties. In there, she said she was not
a woman's liberation person and highlighted success stories in motherhood
and commerce. More recently, in a profile on an American website,
(04:56):
she was named a twenty fifteen Professional Woman of the
Year for her work at Safe Worlds. The New York
based National Association of Professional Women bestowed the award. Warren Bardon,
an investor from Geraldon who we heard from last episode,
was impressed.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
It was spoken about Mary that she got Businesswoman of
the Year in bons Land or something that's sort of
charges people say or they know what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Mike Brooke is the IT blogger we heard from in
another episode whose parents got mixed up in the scheme.
When he heard about Mary's award, he felt something was off.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
The more I followed him and the more he talked
about how he was trying to sell to this company
and this company, and he would have things like he
would put on his emails out that Mary had won
this prestigious award of women and business. And then when
you actually go and look at what this award is,
it's a pay to play. It is an award that
you pay for and then you get a prestigious award.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
The National Association of Professional Women got in trouble for
offering women free membership but then houning them credit card
payments of annual fees of up to one thousand dollars
and for extra you could be profiled on their website.
I've contacted Mary and the National Association of Professional Women
about claims that this award was paid for, but no
(06:14):
response has been received. One thing is certain, though, Alan
left mother Mary holding the baby because when Alan died,
the federal government was officially investigating the company. But why
was Safeworlds in trouble? The answer is hiding in plain sight.
Remember the back of those share certificates that said the
(06:35):
company wasn't registered under any laws in the US or
anywhere else in the world. Well, Australian authorities were not happy.
The Australian Federal Police, also known as the AFP, raided
Alan's Safeworld's officers and also his home multiple times. They
took computers and documents and apparently crippled the Safe World's operation.
(06:58):
The AFP tell me the.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
AFP executed search warrants on behalf of Assek at a
home and business on the Gold Coast and an office
in the Brisbane CBD in November twenty sixteen. The AFP
executed search warrants on behalf of ASSEK at the same
locations in January twenty seventeen. As this matter concerns and
ASSEK led investigation, all other inquiries should be directed to them.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ACIK for short, is
the country's corporate regulator, and someone or several someones had
passed on their concerns. In twenty sixteen, ASEIX started looking
into Alan and Safe Worlds, so I reach out to
ASEIK to find out more and put in a freedom
of information request. Two months later, I learned that the
(07:46):
metcalf sent forty five emails to Assek. Sixteen of those
were from Allen. His last email to them was just
three days before his death. Unfortunately, Acik wouldn't tell me
what was said in those emails, just that those emails existed.
It's frustrating. I would give almost anything to know what
(08:06):
Alan was saying. Was he surprised that authorities were looking
into him or had he been bracing for it for years.
When Alan passed away, Assek turned to Mary as the
new boss. Safegolds had failed to register as a foreign
company as required under the law. The company was also
offering shares to Australian investors without proper disclosure documents, which
(08:29):
was a breach under the Corporation's Act. Safegolds had to
enter into what is known as an enforceable undertaking.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
The company and Mary Metcalfe have offered, and Asek has
agreed to accept as an alternative to Assek in exercising
its civil powers and or its administrative powers against a
company or others. The company will not offer securities that
require disclosure, and Mary metcalf will not be involved in
(08:58):
the offer of security dies that require disclosure.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Essentially, Mary wasn't allowed to sell any more Safe Worlds
shares and she had to register the business as a
foreign company. Mary also had to inform shareholders of the scolding,
and it was posted up onto the Internet for all
the world to see.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
In September twenty sixteen, ASSEK commenced an investigation into Safe
Worlds as it was concerned about the way in which
we had raised money from investors. Safe Worlds has not
registered with ASEK as a foreign company, and Acik has
been concerned that Safe Worlds has not complied with its
obligations under the Corporations Act. On the twenty third of
(09:41):
August twenty seventeen, Safe Worlds provided a signed, enforceable undertaking
to ASEK.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
That's part of the email from August twenty seventeen which
Acik shared online. It's pretty humiliating and a pretty big deal.
Anyone who looks up her name or Safe Worlds will
find that for many investors this was vindication proof that
their concerns about the company hadn't been totally imagined. Some
(10:07):
of them wished that this had happened years before to
spare them from ever trusting the company with their money.
I want to know more so I write to Mary
again asking about this asset decision. Eventually she writes back,
and I'm amazed she's blaming.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Allan Asek found no financial impropriety, only breaches of what
could be seen without belittling their importance as more technical rules,
in particular the number of shareholders we could sell to
without the expense of a prospectus. My husband erroneously believed
that the limit applied on each issue and not the total. Unfortunately,
(10:45):
we should have had access to continuous legal advice, an
area where we had tried to save expenses.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So Mary is saying that her husband's stinginess by trying
to save money or legal advice was what landed them
in hot water. Maybe that's completely understandable. We all make mistakes,
but ACIK wasn't going to let them go completely. The
corporate regulator reserved their rights to take Safe Worlds to court,
either civilly or criminally in the future. I wonder how
(11:15):
common is it for a company to be investigated like this.
Speaker 8 (11:19):
We're just going to go straight to questions this morning.
Speaker 9 (11:22):
Ye I'll ask you about a few matters. Have you
been following this inquiry?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
We have?
Speaker 9 (11:31):
Yes, yeah, Okay, So you would know broadly the themes
which has been focusing on. Like I just I want
to ask you about a.
Speaker 8 (11:37):
Few things today.
Speaker 10 (11:39):
Do you think that we.
Speaker 9 (11:41):
Have a problem with white collar crime in Australia?
Speaker 11 (11:51):
Senator I'll pause, Alex, I'm trying to think about that
answer that without expressing an opinion.
Speaker 9 (11:54):
On that one.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
You're listening to a Senate inquiry into ASCIK. From November
twenty twenty three, New South Wales Senator Andrew Bragg was
leading a parliamentary inquiry into ASSEK, which recently finished. That's
him grilling some representatives from the Treasury. Months after that hearing,
I sit down with Senator Bragg in his office with
stunning views of Sydney Harbor. Senator Bragg leans back on
(12:18):
his chair as he tells me why it's important to
watch the Watchdog. Can you tell me a bit about
why this inquiry was started in the first place. What
were some of the concerns that made it get off
the ground.
Speaker 9 (12:30):
Well, I was concerned that there were a spate of
instances where people were not being held to account where
they had clearly broken the law. And I worried that
white collar crime was a major issue in our country.
The key finding, I think has to be that the
(12:51):
reason we see a cycle of ongoing white collar crime
is because no one's afraid of acid. In the last year,
the gray Barrier, Marine pac or I already achieved more
criminal prosecutions than corporate law enforcement. It's not very sexy,
but it's very important to a lot of people, because
ultimately what's happening is there's a lot of white collar crime.
It's damaging the economy. People are getting done over, There
(13:14):
are no opportunities for compensation for people who get done over,
and it's bloody outrageous.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I ask Senator Bragg for his take on the civil
penalty that Safe World's received. He won't comment specifically, but
he did say this about penalties generally.
Speaker 9 (13:31):
That's the main finding from the inquiry, that the criminal
penalties are not used and there's an over alliance on
civil penalties, which are like speeding tickets. A think there's
a lot of powers. It loves civil penalties, but I
think that some people should be banned for life from
doing financial services or acting as a company director. And
until you see heads on spikes, then I don't think
(13:53):
you're going to see any change.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
As I leave Andrews's office. It strikes me that Assex
seems pretty useless, a toothless tiger, and knowing this, I
now think it's even more significant that Asik took an
interest in Safe Worlds. I decided to ask Asik about
Mary and her business. The law enforcement body tells me
they struck the deal with Mary Metcalf before the twenty
(14:16):
nineteen Financial Services Royal Commission. Since then they've changed their
enforcement culture and also the circumstances where they'll accept an
unforcable undertaking. The Royal Commission was a pretty shocking spotlight
into our financial sector and it rocked Australians. The Commission
handed down a number of recommendations, including a push for
(14:38):
ASSEK to take more companies to court for wrongdoing rather
than simply striking settlement deals. Senator Bragg's inquiry into ASSEK
finished in early July and its findings were grim. He
absolutely eviscerated the regulator in his report to Parliament, finding
it failed miserably in protecting the Australian public. The Senator
(15:00):
is now calling for complete overhaul of the government organization.
Speaker 9 (15:04):
Every time there's been a problem in Canberra since ninety
ninety seven, it's been given to ACIK, and ACIK is
now a monolith. It is so big and it can't
possibly be successful as a sprawling financial services regulator and
as a company's regulator, which is why we have recommended
a new structure for corporate law enforcement in Australia, which
(15:28):
would be a splitting of asseg UP and a creation
of two new bodies.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
So it's hard to get ACIK to take people's complaints seriously,
and yet they did for Safe Worlds. But as I
start diving deeper, I'm shocked to discover that this wasn't
even the biggest issue Safeworlds faced under Mary's leadership, because
while all this was going on, Mary was trying to
broker a deal to sell the company. Michael Blake, the
(15:56):
Sydney former sports star who invested a fortune, tells me
this is where things get really weird.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Not long after Alan passed away, Mary sent out an
email telling us all that she was going to take
it up and get a result in carry on Allan's work.
And then not long after that, she said that she'd
got a pocket call from this stuff guy from Ireland
that Alan had been speaking with, and that he was
really sad that Alan had passed away, but he did
(16:24):
whatever he can to help get the project up and going,
and it turned into that he was done to buy
Safeworld or the technology for a couple of billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
John Duff is an Irish businessman, offering a fortune for
Safe Worlds two point two five billion US dollars with inflation.
That's worth about two point eight eight billion today, which
is four point four to six billion in Australian dollars.
It seemed like an answer to everyone's prayers. Our God
send a miracle. Mary emailed shareholders, saying we.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Are as anxious as all shareholders are to see this
matter concluded soon and on the best of terms, I
am doing everything I can to achieve this.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
As a shareholder himself, Michael says he was excited.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
So it's one hundred thousand shares, okay, Well that's thirty
three dollars a share. Well that's not too bad. So
I've you've got one hundred thousand shares, that's three point
three million dollars or whatever it is. You know, you've
got two hundred and five hundred, ten thousand shares, and
that's so we kind of thought okay, I'll be happy
with that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
John Duff, the potential buyer, was going to fund the
multi billion dollar purchase through his company. A few months later, though,
Duff changed his tune. He said he'd fund the sale personally.
Given the price Duff was willing to pay was apparently
over two billion, that would mean he must be a
billionaire himself, But Michael tells me he's never heard of
(17:55):
a billionaire called John Duff. In Australia, people with a
new worth of over a billion are all known. There's
only one hundred and fifty of them, and Ireland has
a much smaller economy and population in Australia. I try
to dig up everything I can about this mysterious irishman,
and the information is sparse. Aside from a LinkedIn page,
(18:18):
there's very little online about John Darff at all. He's
from Mullingar, from the Ireland county of Westmeath, with a
population of just twenty two thousand people. Investor Charlie Weinbean,
the man whose tip off kickstarted my investigation into Safe Worlds,
tells me he was suspicious of the deal from the start.
Speaker 12 (18:38):
I became skeptical, of course, but then the first email
that we got after his passing away was from Mary,
in which he was saying that nothing would change and
she was going to continue. Alan was gone, but the
Safe Worlds were still there and they were just continuing
with business as usual pretty much. But then we got
the crazy emails, you know, like the one from jumping
(18:59):
from investor to the other, the ones that really started
making me skeptical.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
The emails he's referring to came from Rod McKay, the
farmer from Geralton who poured one point five million dollars
into the scheme and encouraged hundreds of others to invest.
Up until this point, Rod was a Safe Worlds fanatic,
but the John Duff deal was making him lose his faith.
Rod McKay sensationally quit the Safe World's Advisory board. Then
(19:27):
he got into a very long, wild exchange of emails
with Mary metcalf. As you know, Rod has declined to
speak to me or help with my investigation. But luckily
for me, he copied in lots of other investors into
these emails. Most had deleted or lost them, but Warren
Bardon from Geralton had saved them all. He printed them
(19:49):
off and handed them to me in a big folder.
When I visited him last episode. The emails fill up
nineteen pages. I read them all in one sitting, not
quite the l leaving what I'm seeing. I can't tell
you some of what was in Rod's messages because I
wasn't able to verify it. Here's what I can tell you.
These are Rod's words, but not his voice.
Speaker 13 (20:11):
My quest for a return from shareholders on their investment,
and because of my belief in the Safe World's product.
A preliminary investigation has been completed on the ground in
Ireland by a contact of mine. The time for delusion
is over. The reality of the Irish deal can now
be seen for what it is.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
One of the people Rod had introduced to the Safeworld's
program was from Ireland. This investor returned to his homeland
in twenty nineteen and decided to look into who Duff was.
In a series of emails sent over a few months,
Rod revealed what they'd uncovered.
Speaker 13 (20:48):
John Duff was born in nineteen thirty three and had
moved to New York and had become a policeman and
later worked for the CIA. He has six children to
one one life and four children to four other women.
His son had a demolition company in London and died
on the twenty fifth of June twenty twenty. He has
(21:10):
paid one hundred and twenty four euros from the Irish
government every week. He has an office works print out
his emails and he collects them. He does not have
a desktop or laptop.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
As I'm pouring over these files, the chain of events
gets crazier on every new line. Next, Rod writes that
Mary wanted her son looked after.
Speaker 13 (21:33):
It was a source of amusement to Duff that a
make or break condition of a multi billion dollar deal
was that Mary's son, Clayton, had to be given a job.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Rod had blacked out important names in the emails, including
the name of Duff's company, and even more strange, Duff
was referred to as JB throughout the exchange, like some
kind of spy alias. Rod said he was able to
find this all out by talking to a former business
associate of Duff's. The only thing I have is the
(22:05):
name John Duff and the name and date of his
son passing away. I find his son's death notice on
a funeral website, which does indeed prove Duff had six
children from his first marriage. Now I also have the
area in Ireland that Duff is from, and from there
I'm able to track down the name of his company,
Copthorn Trust Corporation Limited. For two euros fifty I get
(22:29):
a business extract on it from the company's registration office,
which is exactly what it sounds like, Ireland's corporate regulator.
Those documents show that yes, stuff was born. In nineteen
thirty three. One Sydney investor Jay Martin Covits, was watching
the email exchange play out from a distance. He tells
(22:50):
me he invested ten thousand dollars into Safe Worlds, and
as Ji I learned more about the Irish deal, he
was worried what this meant for his money and if
he'd ever see it again.
Speaker 11 (23:01):
I find it very strange that someone would pooney up
with a billion dollars plus of money, which at that
time I don't think it was even suggested there had
been a meeting. So for someone to invest in a
system that they haven't seen or done any due diligence
on would be crazy, yet alone at that level of money,
so I question that as far as the valuation of
(23:23):
the platform itself, the only way you could possibly even
justify anywhere near that level of valuation for the system
would be if Alan had artificial intelligence. If he had that,
sky's a limit. If he didn't have it, I think
it's worth nothing zero.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Duff himself seemed to have similar concerns. He thought Safewards
was worth two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, not two
point three billion, according to Rod's investigations. Mary emailed investors
in late twenty nineteen to say that Duff would have
the first one point five billion dollars in place by
the end of the year. But if Duff is getting
(24:04):
a one hundred and twenty four euro a week living
allowance from the government in his old age, how can
he afford any of this? Things took another turn. Duff
had a business partner who was also the co director
of the company Copthorn Trust. Company documents show this man
resigned just a week after Mary's announcement. Rod pointed out
(24:25):
this discrepancy in yet another email.
Speaker 13 (24:28):
It seems highly improbable that this person would resign just
when the deal was coming to fruition.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Nothing was adding up.
Speaker 13 (24:37):
It's a mythical purchase, cannot be backed by its timeline.
Non refundable deposit or stand by letter of credit.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Rod's emails infuriated Mary. This is her reply.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
I find it incomprehensible that a former member of the
committee is conducting an insulting and defamatory campaign against the
only person who has shown any in the purchase of
Safe Worlds. I have now seen documentation which indicates that
John Duff's finances are falling into place.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Mary said all this negative information on Duff was coming
from a former business associate of his who was disgruntled
because he'd been dismissed from Copthorn Trust. But when I
try to verify this, records revealed Duff's ex business associate
was not sacked. Instead, this man officially resigned. John Duff
and this man were co directors of Copthorn Trust. The
(25:33):
business associates contact details are on a document I find online.
I give it a go. This man eventually gets back
to me. He doesn't just want to chat, he wants
to meet. It's ten PM and I'm lying in bed
on my laptop when I receive the reply. I send
a half delirious message to my colleague about this breakthrough
in the case because I'm excited. For months the details
(25:57):
of the Irish deal have been just out of reach.
Talking to Duff's business associate might change that, and as
luck would have it, he's actually traveling to Australia very
soon and we agree to meet when he's here, dressed
in a suit. He has a soft Irish accent and
a firm handshake. He doesn't want me to record our
(26:18):
conversation or for me to use his real name, so
I'll call him Declan. He lets me take notes though,
during our conversation, and that's what a voice actor is relaying.
I ask him about his former business partner, the mysterious
John Duff, the so called billionaire investor who receives one
hundred and twenty four euros from the Irish government every
(26:41):
week and offered to spend over two billion buying out
Safe Worlds.
Speaker 14 (26:46):
John had been talking to a man from Dundee University.
He told John about Safe Worlds. This was when it
came onto the scene for him.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
John Duff had promised to get Declan funding for a
humanitarian venture he was working on to stop child sex trafficking.
This is how they ended up as business partners. But
Duff never raised the promised funds because something else was
taking up all his time.
Speaker 14 (27:12):
Every day I went into the office, he was talking
to missus Metcalf. They were on the phone day and night,
Australia being nine hours ahead of us. The last thing
at night John called. She was besotted with him, accepting
everything he said. Mary grabbed at a straw, and that
straw was John Duff. John absolutely had her hook line
and sinker.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Declan confirms that part of the deal was for Mary's son, Clayton,
to get a job.
Speaker 14 (27:37):
If you're given this woman two point two five billion dollars,
what the hell does her son need a job for.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Declan confirms that yes, John Duff did print off emails
at his local office works and he tells me John
had claimed to be XCIA.
Speaker 14 (27:53):
I rang Mary up numerous times and said, if you
have someone else to take this project, take them because
we have no money. I told her straight up. I
have never added to John's story. I said, John, you
don't have this money. All we were were two muppets
from the other side.
Speaker 15 (28:08):
Of the world.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
But Mary didn't agree. As for John's role, Declan declares.
Speaker 14 (28:15):
I'd be certain that he didn't go in with the
idea of scamming he went in with the idea of
making money for himself.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Things soured pretty quickly, though, and Diclan had to get out.
Speaker 14 (28:26):
I'd had enough, I'd saved him from embarrassment. John accused
me of stealing documents before I left, some of the
documents related to Mary. It was just one paper with
bank details on it. That was it.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
This was the last text Declan sent to Mary.
Speaker 14 (28:42):
Hello Mary, just a quick note to let you know
that I never stole anything from anyone in my life.
Look after yourself and your shareholders who have committed themselves
to your husband's ideals. Keep them close, as they are
the only real thing in this whole sorry affair.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
My mind is race after this such an odd situation
and an odd rave of people who've been sucked into
this seemingly never ending saga. While talking to Declan certainly
didn't answer some of my questions, it feels good at
least that I've heard it from the source now and
not third hand. Through some emails. I also learned that
(29:20):
money was supposed to come from another associate of Duff's,
a Danish woman called Jit Marstrand. I get hold of
her number. We speak over the phone. After multiple texts
where we try to work out the time difference. This
is someone reading out her words.
Speaker 16 (29:36):
John and I are in the same business funding humanitarian
and environmental projects. He was in the CIA Meals Center
the Middle East. Those were the wild days. He got
shot in the face.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Jit says Duff's life wasn't quite so exciting now as
he's in a nursing home. When I ask her about
Safe Worlds, she vaguely recalls it.
Speaker 8 (29:56):
I don't know safe Worlds. Intimately.
Speaker 16 (29:58):
I think missus Metca wasn't very pleased with John. My
involvement was the request from John to try and find
a leader to fund the new IT technology.
Speaker 8 (30:06):
For a while, he spoke about it daily.
Speaker 16 (30:08):
He couldn't substantiate the two point two five billion to
any provider.
Speaker 8 (30:12):
John was very proactive. Maybe he talked too much too early.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
And Jit is pretty confident she could get Duff the
billions of dollars he needed.
Speaker 16 (30:21):
There are large amounts of historical funds in China and
the King Solomon funds. They're all around the world. It
takes a lot to get this money released. I could
introduce him to these accounts at the time.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
There's a biblical tale of King Solomon abandoning his mind
somewhere in a desert in Israel. He apparently stored five
hundred tons of pure gold worth more than three point
seventy six trillion Ossie dollars, But two years ago historians
completely debunked this tale as a myth. Jit is vague
(30:52):
when I ask her about the King Solomon reference and
tells me that there are quad trillions of dollars worth
of historical funds out there. Rabbit hole is not something
I ever imagined I'd be researching for this podcast, and
it sounds, in all honesty insane with or without this
mythical pile of biblical gold. Jit also says she could
(31:14):
have got duff that required two point twenty five billion
dollars for the Safeworld's purchase in just a few days.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
We do create money like that.
Speaker 16 (31:21):
If someone invests forty four million, the banks can make
money with that by trading it.
Speaker 8 (31:26):
In ten days, you'll have a billion.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
That's not exactly true. There's no guarantee for something like that.
Otherwise wouldn't everyone do it? Jit sounds like the latest
in a line of unconvincing characters in this story. I'm
feeling confused and frustrated after all this, not sure what
to believe or who so imagine how Safe World's investors
(31:49):
were feeling. They were desperate. The chances of John Duff
paying them billions was disintegrating before their eyes, so they
took matters into their own hands. Emails to her shareholders,
Mary claimed Safewolds was using a US lawyer to broker
the Irish deal, so investors decided to contact this lawyer,
(32:10):
Thomas Schmull, a partner at Philadelphia law firm Dwayne Morris.
I recognize the name. Alan and then Mary had named
Thomas Schmul and his law firm over the years as
their legal advisors in updates to shareholders. But Schmul's response
to investors was surprising. Not only did he reveal he
(32:30):
was no longer representing Safeworlds, he was also owed money,
and he demanded that Mary stop name dropping him. He
sent an email to Mary that said, a.
Speaker 15 (32:41):
Shareholder said, to us, copies of communications that you have
had with him and presumably others, which imply that either
I or Dwayne Morris represent you, the company and or
its shareholders, we do not, and therefore we must insist
that you cease representing stating or applying to anyone that
we we now represent the company at shareholders, you, or
(33:03):
any prospective purchaser in connection with any sale of the company,
and given what is transpired, it is highly likely that
we would decline to represent any such parties going forward.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
In another email, Schmul said.
Speaker 15 (33:17):
We referred to certain conditions for our firms involvement in
the transaction in the event which we did not and
do not consider to be likely that mister Duff proceeds
with the purchase and funds it.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Those conditions were that they needed proof from Duff's bank
that he really did have access to billions of dollars
and that he would settle an outstanding payment Safeworld's owed
to the law firm. Thomas Schmull also said he was
unable to assure himself of the required due diligence in
relation to the whole deal. The lawyer and his firm
(33:50):
did not respond to my questions at this point. The
whole Safeworld's John Duff CIA Agent Biblical goal Us Law
Firm drama is a swirling mix of contradictory claims and counterclaims,
with Safeboard investors completely unable to work out what was
fake and what was real, if anything even was to
(34:10):
begin with, and then the multi billion dollar Irish rescue
of the business faulted. It just never happened. Mary went quiet.
Rod shared his thoughts about that in another email to
Mary in twenty twenty.
Speaker 13 (34:24):
You have overseen the demise of a fifty million dollar
company made up predominantly of mum and dad investors.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
John Duff is ninety years old now. I attempt to
contact him for comment by emailing him and contacting the
nursing home he's now living in. I never hear back,
so I write to Mary again. She tells me over email.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
We had a contract subject to finance with John Duff
for US two point two five b in to buy
the world license. Unfortunately, the contract fell through. Unfortunately, some
of our shareholders say tacked and criticized him to such
a degree that he decided to wipe his hands of
further involvement in the corporation. Since then, I have had
(35:09):
a blanket rule that until a purchaser is close to completion,
I cannot reveal his or her name and details. This
seems to be the most sensible rule. I and before me,
my late husband, were both satisfied that he was genuine.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
But I want to talk to Mary face to face,
so I fly up to the Gold Coast. I knew
it would come to this point somewhere down the line.
She's the only one really who knows what to make
of all this. The prospect of seeing her after all
my months of investigations is nerve racking but also exciting.
Mary might have answers. She might be able to help
(35:50):
me understand what happened, what happened to all the money.
But if this doesn't go well, maybe I'll never know,
and neither will all the investors. Circle around Mary's block
a few times, psyching myself up. Then I weighed through
long grass to a humble looking one story brick house.
I wrapped my knuckles against a fly screen door. It's yeah, Hi, Mary,
(36:16):
It's Alston mc cohen from dot com. Are you from
news dot com? Are you? I think we spoke. Yeah,
I was really happy to chat to you again about
the same pod.
Speaker 14 (36:26):
I really don't want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
It gone missing.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
The forty nine million dollars has gone missing.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Forty million dollars in the project. It's it hasn't gone missing.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Then?
Speaker 8 (36:38):
With the money.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Well, it's been spent on the project developing the system.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
But how is all that money spent on a project
that nobody ever saw.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
The investors know what we've done. We've done a Bajor
test for over three years. They know the system, and
ASIK investigated the system from November to July, they found nothing.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Couldn't recommend that that's what it was.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Just that we didn't register the US company in Australia.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
And that we.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Solved too many shareholders in one year and.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
That was it.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Well, you didn't make him right this plasure.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
I don't want to talk to.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Mary doesn't want to continue to talk to me after
this point, so I leave. Some shareholders have surmised Mary
might have been living the high life using their money,
but I certainly haven't seen any evidence of that. As
I've said, her home was pretty ordinary looking and property
records show she doesn't even own it. She rents there
and doesn't have any real estate under her name. Meanwhile,
(37:42):
her son Clayton, part owns a mortgaged house in the
Gold Coast with his wife. He doesn't have any other
properties that I could see. Could Alan have hidden the
money so well that not even his own family knew
where to find it? Or is Mary right? Was the
money all spent on safe worlds? But then why aren't
there any financial reports from the company? Are nothing more
(38:05):
than a clunky, disused website to show for it? Or
is it possible something else happened? I think I know
where to look next to find out. It involves a
mystery gold that you can't physically touch and the notorious
Cayman Islands. That's next time on the missing forty nine million.
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Now that I've seen a certificate the digital belt doesn't exist.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Looks fake.
Speaker 8 (38:37):
That's the most fake certificate I've ever seen.
Speaker 13 (38:40):
A class action may well result.
Speaker 10 (38:43):
They are told I'm a thing by Alan Lloy's what
that was? In a safe somewhere? I see thing dies, Laura?
What's going to happen all this information? And I was
told that it's in a safe a safe place.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Thanks for listening. A new episode is coming out weekly
wherever you get your podcasts, Make sure you subscribe so
you don't miss an episode. Head to news dot com
dot Au to read more of my reporting on this story.
Speaker 8 (39:13):
Do you know more?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Get in touch through our dedicated tip inbox Missing Millions
at news dot com dot au or contact me directly
on Alex dot Turner, Dash Cohen at news dot com dodau,
or look me up on Twitter to get my details.
I'm your host, Alex Turner Cohen. Nina Young is the
executive producer. Sound design and editing by Tiffany Dimack. Our
(39:35):
editorial director is Dan Box. Grant McAvaney is our legal advisor,
and Kerrie Warren is the editor of news dot com Doreau.
Special thanks to our voice actors Margo Murphy, Andrea Tis Evanson,
Sherene Khalil, James Morrow, John ty Burton, Paul Byrne and
Briel Burns. Also thanks to producer Bechday for her helpful
(39:56):
I Was in the Gold Coast
Yeah, Hi, Mary, I think we spoke.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, how did it go so wrong to have a
journalist knocking on your door on a quiet Gold Coast
street in the middle of the day. There's someone else
tangled in the complicated web of Allan Metcalf. They've been
on the periphery of my investigation until now. It's time
she takes center stage. Buckle in, because this story is
(00:34):
about to go from the already pretty bizarre to outright ridiculous.
I'm Alex Turner Cohen, a finance and investigative reporter from
news dot com DoD AU, and you're listening to the
Missing forty nine Million. This is episode five, Mother Mary.
(01:10):
After Allan's death, his followers feared their investment was gone,
all forty nine million dollars of it. They expected the
business to shut down forever. But then Alan's wife, Mary
Metcalf took over. They went back to hoping and praying
that the hard earned money they'd handed over would once
again be returned to them at a hefty profit. But
(01:32):
what happened afterwards? And can Mary help with the search
for the money?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
But the time will come when I will get out
there and promote all the things that Alan had achieving
true artificial intelligence when the.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Time is right.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
This is Mary speaking at her husband's funeral in twenty seventeen,
when she was sixty eight years old. Her son Clayton
Metcalf was also going to help out.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Clayton I pledged we commit to commercialize this technology and
take it to the world to fulfill his dream. I
know that this sounds impossible, but Jesus said, with men,
it's impossible, but not with God. For with God all
things are possible. We have the faith and we call
(02:18):
upon God and your prayers for this to come true.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Just five days after her husband's death, Mary emailed shareholders
reassuring them of her plans for the company. Throughout this episode,
we're using a voice actor to read out Mary's emails,
so keep in mind these are her words, but not
her voice.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I have been the company's CFO from the beginning, working
closely alongside Allan, and I am totally familiar with all
aspects of the Safe World's TV project. I have committed
to take over Allan's work to establish this company as
he intended, with the help of my son Clayton Metcalf.
The finest celebration of his legacy is that all of
(03:01):
us who can now pledge to liberate this gift to
benefit humanity.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Mary seemed to genuinely believe in what her late husband
had started. She even titled the video of Allan's funeral
as stay Strong and Keep the Faith. But investors were nervous.
They wondered how someone other than Alan could run a
project of this magnitude. Michael Blake, the sporting star who
invested three hundred thousand dollars, hadn't thought of Mary as
(03:31):
the chief financial officer of Safe Worlds. He'd seen her
as the office manager.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Alan was hands on on the software and doing interviews,
trying to raise money, doing all the meetings, and Mary
is probably in charge of the office and all the paperwork,
the admin, you know, all the stuff that has to
be done.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Mary had been at Alan's side for much of his life.
She tagged along with him on his business trips to
the US, and her signature was on the hundreds of
share certificates issued right next to Allan's. He had signed
as chief executive of Safe Worlds and she had signed
as its secretary. I want to know more about Mary
metcalf I found out so much about her late husband,
(04:14):
but what about the woman herself? This is what comes
up after I searched the Internet. Originally from Hungary, she
moved to Australia with her family when she was ten
and changed her name from Maria to Mary. Alan became
her life partner when she was seventeen. The Age newspaper
called her a prominent national party housewife in a nineteen
(04:35):
eighty article. She was also the publisher of Townsville Woman,
one of several magazines Alan launched, which went bust in
the nineteen eighties. In there, she said she was not
a woman's liberation person and highlighted success stories in motherhood
and commerce. More recently, in a profile on an American website,
(04:56):
she was named a twenty fifteen Professional Woman of the
Year for her work at Safe Worlds. The New York
based National Association of Professional Women bestowed the award. Warren Bardon,
an investor from Geraldon who we heard from last episode,
was impressed.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
It was spoken about Mary that she got Businesswoman of
the Year in bons Land or something that's sort of
charges people say or they know what they're doing.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Mike Brooke is the IT blogger we heard from in
another episode whose parents got mixed up in the scheme.
When he heard about Mary's award, he felt something was off.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
The more I followed him and the more he talked
about how he was trying to sell to this company
and this company, and he would have things like he
would put on his emails out that Mary had won
this prestigious award of women and business. And then when
you actually go and look at what this award is,
it's a pay to play. It is an award that
you pay for and then you get a prestigious award.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
The National Association of Professional Women got in trouble for
offering women free membership but then houning them credit card
payments of annual fees of up to one thousand dollars
and for extra you could be profiled on their website.
I've contacted Mary and the National Association of Professional Women
about claims that this award was paid for, but no
(06:14):
response has been received. One thing is certain, though, Alan
left mother Mary holding the baby because when Alan died,
the federal government was officially investigating the company. But why
was Safeworlds in trouble? The answer is hiding in plain sight.
Remember the back of those share certificates that said the
(06:35):
company wasn't registered under any laws in the US or
anywhere else in the world. Well, Australian authorities were not happy.
The Australian Federal Police, also known as the AFP, raided
Alan's Safeworld's officers and also his home multiple times. They
took computers and documents and apparently crippled the Safe World's operation.
(06:58):
The AFP tell me the.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
AFP executed search warrants on behalf of Assek at a
home and business on the Gold Coast and an office
in the Brisbane CBD in November twenty sixteen. The AFP
executed search warrants on behalf of ASSEK at the same
locations in January twenty seventeen. As this matter concerns and
ASSEK led investigation, all other inquiries should be directed to them.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission ACIK for short, is
the country's corporate regulator, and someone or several someones had
passed on their concerns. In twenty sixteen, ASEIX started looking
into Alan and Safe Worlds, so I reach out to
ASEIK to find out more and put in a freedom
of information request. Two months later, I learned that the
(07:46):
metcalf sent forty five emails to Assek. Sixteen of those
were from Allen. His last email to them was just
three days before his death. Unfortunately, Acik wouldn't tell me
what was said in those emails, just that those emails existed.
It's frustrating. I would give almost anything to know what
(08:06):
Alan was saying. Was he surprised that authorities were looking
into him or had he been bracing for it for years.
When Alan passed away, Assek turned to Mary as the
new boss. Safegolds had failed to register as a foreign
company as required under the law. The company was also
offering shares to Australian investors without proper disclosure documents, which
(08:29):
was a breach under the Corporation's Act. Safegolds had to
enter into what is known as an enforceable undertaking.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
The company and Mary Metcalfe have offered, and Asek has
agreed to accept as an alternative to Assek in exercising
its civil powers and or its administrative powers against a
company or others. The company will not offer securities that
require disclosure, and Mary metcalf will not be involved in
(08:58):
the offer of security dies that require disclosure.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Essentially, Mary wasn't allowed to sell any more Safe Worlds
shares and she had to register the business as a
foreign company. Mary also had to inform shareholders of the scolding,
and it was posted up onto the Internet for all
the world to see.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
In September twenty sixteen, ASSEK commenced an investigation into Safe
Worlds as it was concerned about the way in which
we had raised money from investors. Safe Worlds has not
registered with ASEK as a foreign company, and Acik has
been concerned that Safe Worlds has not complied with its
obligations under the Corporations Act. On the twenty third of
(09:41):
August twenty seventeen, Safe Worlds provided a signed, enforceable undertaking
to ASEK.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
That's part of the email from August twenty seventeen which
Acik shared online. It's pretty humiliating and a pretty big deal.
Anyone who looks up her name or Safe Worlds will
find that for many investors this was vindication proof that
their concerns about the company hadn't been totally imagined. Some
(10:07):
of them wished that this had happened years before to
spare them from ever trusting the company with their money.
I want to know more so I write to Mary
again asking about this asset decision. Eventually she writes back,
and I'm amazed she's blaming.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Allan Asek found no financial impropriety, only breaches of what
could be seen without belittling their importance as more technical rules,
in particular the number of shareholders we could sell to
without the expense of a prospectus. My husband erroneously believed
that the limit applied on each issue and not the total. Unfortunately,
(10:45):
we should have had access to continuous legal advice, an
area where we had tried to save expenses.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So Mary is saying that her husband's stinginess by trying
to save money or legal advice was what landed them
in hot water. Maybe that's completely understandable. We all make mistakes,
but ACIK wasn't going to let them go completely. The
corporate regulator reserved their rights to take Safe Worlds to court,
either civilly or criminally in the future. I wonder how
(11:15):
common is it for a company to be investigated like this.
Speaker 8 (11:19):
We're just going to go straight to questions this morning.
Speaker 9 (11:22):
Ye I'll ask you about a few matters. Have you
been following this inquiry?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
We have?
Speaker 9 (11:31):
Yes, yeah, Okay, So you would know broadly the themes
which has been focusing on. Like I just I want
to ask you about a.
Speaker 8 (11:37):
Few things today.
Speaker 10 (11:39):
Do you think that we.
Speaker 9 (11:41):
Have a problem with white collar crime in Australia?
Speaker 11 (11:51):
Senator I'll pause, Alex, I'm trying to think about that
answer that without expressing an opinion.
Speaker 9 (11:54):
On that one.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
You're listening to a Senate inquiry into ASCIK. From November
twenty twenty three, New South Wales Senator Andrew Bragg was
leading a parliamentary inquiry into ASSEK, which recently finished. That's
him grilling some representatives from the Treasury. Months after that hearing,
I sit down with Senator Bragg in his office with
stunning views of Sydney Harbor. Senator Bragg leans back on
(12:18):
his chair as he tells me why it's important to
watch the Watchdog. Can you tell me a bit about
why this inquiry was started in the first place. What
were some of the concerns that made it get off
the ground.
Speaker 9 (12:30):
Well, I was concerned that there were a spate of
instances where people were not being held to account where
they had clearly broken the law. And I worried that
white collar crime was a major issue in our country.
The key finding, I think has to be that the
(12:51):
reason we see a cycle of ongoing white collar crime
is because no one's afraid of acid. In the last year,
the gray Barrier, Marine pac or I already achieved more
criminal prosecutions than corporate law enforcement. It's not very sexy,
but it's very important to a lot of people, because
ultimately what's happening is there's a lot of white collar crime.
It's damaging the economy. People are getting done over, There
(13:14):
are no opportunities for compensation for people who get done over,
and it's bloody outrageous.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I ask Senator Bragg for his take on the civil
penalty that Safe World's received. He won't comment specifically, but
he did say this about penalties generally.
Speaker 9 (13:31):
That's the main finding from the inquiry, that the criminal
penalties are not used and there's an over alliance on
civil penalties, which are like speeding tickets. A think there's
a lot of powers. It loves civil penalties, but I
think that some people should be banned for life from
doing financial services or acting as a company director. And
until you see heads on spikes, then I don't think
(13:53):
you're going to see any change.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
As I leave Andrews's office. It strikes me that Assex
seems pretty useless, a toothless tiger, and knowing this, I
now think it's even more significant that Asik took an
interest in Safe Worlds. I decided to ask Asik about
Mary and her business. The law enforcement body tells me
they struck the deal with Mary Metcalf before the twenty
(14:16):
nineteen Financial Services Royal Commission. Since then they've changed their
enforcement culture and also the circumstances where they'll accept an
unforcable undertaking. The Royal Commission was a pretty shocking spotlight
into our financial sector and it rocked Australians. The Commission
handed down a number of recommendations, including a push for
(14:38):
ASSEK to take more companies to court for wrongdoing rather
than simply striking settlement deals. Senator Bragg's inquiry into ASSEK
finished in early July and its findings were grim. He
absolutely eviscerated the regulator in his report to Parliament, finding
it failed miserably in protecting the Australian public. The Senator
(15:00):
is now calling for complete overhaul of the government organization.
Speaker 9 (15:04):
Every time there's been a problem in Canberra since ninety
ninety seven, it's been given to ACIK, and ACIK is
now a monolith. It is so big and it can't
possibly be successful as a sprawling financial services regulator and
as a company's regulator, which is why we have recommended
a new structure for corporate law enforcement in Australia, which
(15:28):
would be a splitting of asseg UP and a creation
of two new bodies.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
So it's hard to get ACIK to take people's complaints seriously,
and yet they did for Safe Worlds. But as I
start diving deeper, I'm shocked to discover that this wasn't
even the biggest issue Safeworlds faced under Mary's leadership, because
while all this was going on, Mary was trying to
broker a deal to sell the company. Michael Blake, the
(15:56):
Sydney former sports star who invested a fortune, tells me
this is where things get really weird.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Not long after Alan passed away, Mary sent out an
email telling us all that she was going to take
it up and get a result in carry on Allan's work.
And then not long after that, she said that she'd
got a pocket call from this stuff guy from Ireland
that Alan had been speaking with, and that he was
really sad that Alan had passed away, but he did
(16:24):
whatever he can to help get the project up and going,
and it turned into that he was done to buy
Safeworld or the technology for a couple of billion dollars.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
John Duff is an Irish businessman, offering a fortune for
Safe Worlds two point two five billion US dollars with inflation.
That's worth about two point eight eight billion today, which
is four point four to six billion in Australian dollars.
It seemed like an answer to everyone's prayers. Our God
send a miracle. Mary emailed shareholders, saying we.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Are as anxious as all shareholders are to see this
matter concluded soon and on the best of terms, I
am doing everything I can to achieve this.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
As a shareholder himself, Michael says he was excited.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
So it's one hundred thousand shares, okay, Well that's thirty
three dollars a share. Well that's not too bad. So
I've you've got one hundred thousand shares, that's three point
three million dollars or whatever it is. You know, you've
got two hundred and five hundred, ten thousand shares, and
that's so we kind of thought okay, I'll be happy
with that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
John Duff, the potential buyer, was going to fund the
multi billion dollar purchase through his company. A few months later, though,
Duff changed his tune. He said he'd fund the sale personally.
Given the price Duff was willing to pay was apparently
over two billion, that would mean he must be a
billionaire himself, But Michael tells me he's never heard of
(17:55):
a billionaire called John Duff. In Australia, people with a
new worth of over a billion are all known. There's
only one hundred and fifty of them, and Ireland has
a much smaller economy and population in Australia. I try
to dig up everything I can about this mysterious irishman,
and the information is sparse. Aside from a LinkedIn page,
(18:18):
there's very little online about John Darff at all. He's
from Mullingar, from the Ireland county of Westmeath, with a
population of just twenty two thousand people. Investor Charlie Weinbean,
the man whose tip off kickstarted my investigation into Safe Worlds,
tells me he was suspicious of the deal from the start.
Speaker 12 (18:38):
I became skeptical, of course, but then the first email
that we got after his passing away was from Mary,
in which he was saying that nothing would change and
she was going to continue. Alan was gone, but the
Safe Worlds were still there and they were just continuing
with business as usual pretty much. But then we got
the crazy emails, you know, like the one from jumping
(18:59):
from investor to the other, the ones that really started
making me skeptical.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
The emails he's referring to came from Rod McKay, the
farmer from Geralton who poured one point five million dollars
into the scheme and encouraged hundreds of others to invest.
Up until this point, Rod was a Safe Worlds fanatic,
but the John Duff deal was making him lose his faith.
Rod McKay sensationally quit the Safe World's Advisory board. Then
(19:27):
he got into a very long, wild exchange of emails
with Mary metcalf. As you know, Rod has declined to
speak to me or help with my investigation. But luckily
for me, he copied in lots of other investors into
these emails. Most had deleted or lost them, but Warren
Bardon from Geralton had saved them all. He printed them
(19:49):
off and handed them to me in a big folder.
When I visited him last episode. The emails fill up
nineteen pages. I read them all in one sitting, not
quite the l leaving what I'm seeing. I can't tell
you some of what was in Rod's messages because I
wasn't able to verify it. Here's what I can tell you.
These are Rod's words, but not his voice.
Speaker 13 (20:11):
My quest for a return from shareholders on their investment,
and because of my belief in the Safe World's product.
A preliminary investigation has been completed on the ground in
Ireland by a contact of mine. The time for delusion
is over. The reality of the Irish deal can now
be seen for what it is.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
One of the people Rod had introduced to the Safeworld's
program was from Ireland. This investor returned to his homeland
in twenty nineteen and decided to look into who Duff was.
In a series of emails sent over a few months,
Rod revealed what they'd uncovered.
Speaker 13 (20:48):
John Duff was born in nineteen thirty three and had
moved to New York and had become a policeman and
later worked for the CIA. He has six children to
one one life and four children to four other women.
His son had a demolition company in London and died
on the twenty fifth of June twenty twenty. He has
(21:10):
paid one hundred and twenty four euros from the Irish
government every week. He has an office works print out
his emails and he collects them. He does not have
a desktop or laptop.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
As I'm pouring over these files, the chain of events
gets crazier on every new line. Next, Rod writes that
Mary wanted her son looked after.
Speaker 13 (21:33):
It was a source of amusement to Duff that a
make or break condition of a multi billion dollar deal
was that Mary's son, Clayton, had to be given a job.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Rod had blacked out important names in the emails, including
the name of Duff's company, and even more strange, Duff
was referred to as JB throughout the exchange, like some
kind of spy alias. Rod said he was able to
find this all out by talking to a former business
associate of Duff's. The only thing I have is the
(22:05):
name John Duff and the name and date of his
son passing away. I find his son's death notice on
a funeral website, which does indeed prove Duff had six
children from his first marriage. Now I also have the
area in Ireland that Duff is from, and from there
I'm able to track down the name of his company,
Copthorn Trust Corporation Limited. For two euros fifty I get
(22:29):
a business extract on it from the company's registration office,
which is exactly what it sounds like, Ireland's corporate regulator.
Those documents show that yes, stuff was born. In nineteen
thirty three. One Sydney investor Jay Martin Covits, was watching
the email exchange play out from a distance. He tells
(22:50):
me he invested ten thousand dollars into Safe Worlds, and
as Ji I learned more about the Irish deal, he
was worried what this meant for his money and if
he'd ever see it again.
Speaker 11 (23:01):
I find it very strange that someone would pooney up
with a billion dollars plus of money, which at that
time I don't think it was even suggested there had
been a meeting. So for someone to invest in a
system that they haven't seen or done any due diligence
on would be crazy, yet alone at that level of money,
so I question that as far as the valuation of
(23:23):
the platform itself, the only way you could possibly even
justify anywhere near that level of valuation for the system
would be if Alan had artificial intelligence. If he had that,
sky's a limit. If he didn't have it, I think
it's worth nothing zero.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Duff himself seemed to have similar concerns. He thought Safewards
was worth two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, not two
point three billion, according to Rod's investigations. Mary emailed investors
in late twenty nineteen to say that Duff would have
the first one point five billion dollars in place by
the end of the year. But if Duff is getting
(24:04):
a one hundred and twenty four euro a week living
allowance from the government in his old age, how can
he afford any of this? Things took another turn. Duff
had a business partner who was also the co director
of the company Copthorn Trust. Company documents show this man
resigned just a week after Mary's announcement. Rod pointed out
(24:25):
this discrepancy in yet another email.
Speaker 13 (24:28):
It seems highly improbable that this person would resign just
when the deal was coming to fruition.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Nothing was adding up.
Speaker 13 (24:37):
It's a mythical purchase, cannot be backed by its timeline.
Non refundable deposit or stand by letter of credit.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Rod's emails infuriated Mary. This is her reply.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
I find it incomprehensible that a former member of the
committee is conducting an insulting and defamatory campaign against the
only person who has shown any in the purchase of
Safe Worlds. I have now seen documentation which indicates that
John Duff's finances are falling into place.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Mary said all this negative information on Duff was coming
from a former business associate of his who was disgruntled
because he'd been dismissed from Copthorn Trust. But when I
try to verify this, records revealed Duff's ex business associate
was not sacked. Instead, this man officially resigned. John Duff
and this man were co directors of Copthorn Trust. The
(25:33):
business associates contact details are on a document I find online.
I give it a go. This man eventually gets back
to me. He doesn't just want to chat, he wants
to meet. It's ten PM and I'm lying in bed
on my laptop when I receive the reply. I send
a half delirious message to my colleague about this breakthrough
in the case because I'm excited. For months the details
(25:57):
of the Irish deal have been just out of reach.
Talking to Duff's business associate might change that, and as
luck would have it, he's actually traveling to Australia very
soon and we agree to meet when he's here, dressed
in a suit. He has a soft Irish accent and
a firm handshake. He doesn't want me to record our
(26:18):
conversation or for me to use his real name, so
I'll call him Declan. He lets me take notes though,
during our conversation, and that's what a voice actor is relaying.
I ask him about his former business partner, the mysterious
John Duff, the so called billionaire investor who receives one
hundred and twenty four euros from the Irish government every
(26:41):
week and offered to spend over two billion buying out
Safe Worlds.
Speaker 14 (26:46):
John had been talking to a man from Dundee University.
He told John about Safe Worlds. This was when it
came onto the scene for him.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
John Duff had promised to get Declan funding for a
humanitarian venture he was working on to stop child sex trafficking.
This is how they ended up as business partners. But
Duff never raised the promised funds because something else was
taking up all his time.
Speaker 14 (27:12):
Every day I went into the office, he was talking
to missus Metcalf. They were on the phone day and night,
Australia being nine hours ahead of us. The last thing
at night John called. She was besotted with him, accepting
everything he said. Mary grabbed at a straw, and that
straw was John Duff. John absolutely had her hook line
and sinker.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Declan confirms that part of the deal was for Mary's son, Clayton,
to get a job.
Speaker 14 (27:37):
If you're given this woman two point two five billion dollars,
what the hell does her son need a job for.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Declan confirms that yes, John Duff did print off emails
at his local office works and he tells me John
had claimed to be XCIA.
Speaker 14 (27:53):
I rang Mary up numerous times and said, if you
have someone else to take this project, take them because
we have no money. I told her straight up. I
have never added to John's story. I said, John, you
don't have this money. All we were were two muppets
from the other side.
Speaker 15 (28:08):
Of the world.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
But Mary didn't agree. As for John's role, Declan declares.
Speaker 14 (28:15):
I'd be certain that he didn't go in with the
idea of scamming he went in with the idea of
making money for himself.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Things soured pretty quickly, though, and Diclan had to get out.
Speaker 14 (28:26):
I'd had enough, I'd saved him from embarrassment. John accused
me of stealing documents before I left, some of the
documents related to Mary. It was just one paper with
bank details on it. That was it.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
This was the last text Declan sent to Mary.
Speaker 14 (28:42):
Hello Mary, just a quick note to let you know
that I never stole anything from anyone in my life.
Look after yourself and your shareholders who have committed themselves
to your husband's ideals. Keep them close, as they are
the only real thing in this whole sorry affair.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
My mind is race after this such an odd situation
and an odd rave of people who've been sucked into
this seemingly never ending saga. While talking to Declan certainly
didn't answer some of my questions, it feels good at
least that I've heard it from the source now and
not third hand. Through some emails. I also learned that
(29:20):
money was supposed to come from another associate of Duff's,
a Danish woman called Jit Marstrand. I get hold of
her number. We speak over the phone. After multiple texts
where we try to work out the time difference. This
is someone reading out her words.
Speaker 16 (29:36):
John and I are in the same business funding humanitarian
and environmental projects. He was in the CIA Meals Center
the Middle East. Those were the wild days. He got
shot in the face.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Jit says Duff's life wasn't quite so exciting now as
he's in a nursing home. When I ask her about
Safe Worlds, she vaguely recalls it.
Speaker 8 (29:56):
I don't know safe Worlds. Intimately.
Speaker 16 (29:58):
I think missus Metca wasn't very pleased with John. My
involvement was the request from John to try and find
a leader to fund the new IT technology.
Speaker 8 (30:06):
For a while, he spoke about it daily.
Speaker 16 (30:08):
He couldn't substantiate the two point two five billion to
any provider.
Speaker 8 (30:12):
John was very proactive. Maybe he talked too much too early.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
And Jit is pretty confident she could get Duff the
billions of dollars he needed.
Speaker 16 (30:21):
There are large amounts of historical funds in China and
the King Solomon funds. They're all around the world. It
takes a lot to get this money released. I could
introduce him to these accounts at the time.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
There's a biblical tale of King Solomon abandoning his mind
somewhere in a desert in Israel. He apparently stored five
hundred tons of pure gold worth more than three point
seventy six trillion Ossie dollars, But two years ago historians
completely debunked this tale as a myth. Jit is vague
(30:52):
when I ask her about the King Solomon reference and
tells me that there are quad trillions of dollars worth
of historical funds out there. Rabbit hole is not something
I ever imagined I'd be researching for this podcast, and
it sounds, in all honesty insane with or without this
mythical pile of biblical gold. Jit also says she could
(31:14):
have got duff that required two point twenty five billion
dollars for the Safeworld's purchase in just a few days.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
We do create money like that.
Speaker 16 (31:21):
If someone invests forty four million, the banks can make
money with that by trading it.
Speaker 8 (31:26):
In ten days, you'll have a billion.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
That's not exactly true. There's no guarantee for something like that.
Otherwise wouldn't everyone do it? Jit sounds like the latest
in a line of unconvincing characters in this story. I'm
feeling confused and frustrated after all this, not sure what
to believe or who so imagine how Safe World's investors
(31:49):
were feeling. They were desperate. The chances of John Duff
paying them billions was disintegrating before their eyes, so they
took matters into their own hands. Emails to her shareholders,
Mary claimed Safewolds was using a US lawyer to broker
the Irish deal, so investors decided to contact this lawyer,
(32:10):
Thomas Schmull, a partner at Philadelphia law firm Dwayne Morris.
I recognize the name. Alan and then Mary had named
Thomas Schmul and his law firm over the years as
their legal advisors in updates to shareholders. But Schmul's response
to investors was surprising. Not only did he reveal he
(32:30):
was no longer representing Safeworlds, he was also owed money,
and he demanded that Mary stop name dropping him. He
sent an email to Mary that said, a.
Speaker 15 (32:41):
Shareholder said, to us, copies of communications that you have
had with him and presumably others, which imply that either
I or Dwayne Morris represent you, the company and or
its shareholders, we do not, and therefore we must insist
that you cease representing stating or applying to anyone that
we we now represent the company at shareholders, you, or
(33:03):
any prospective purchaser in connection with any sale of the company,
and given what is transpired, it is highly likely that
we would decline to represent any such parties going forward.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
In another email, Schmul said.
Speaker 15 (33:17):
We referred to certain conditions for our firms involvement in
the transaction in the event which we did not and
do not consider to be likely that mister Duff proceeds
with the purchase and funds it.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Those conditions were that they needed proof from Duff's bank
that he really did have access to billions of dollars
and that he would settle an outstanding payment Safeworld's owed
to the law firm. Thomas Schmull also said he was
unable to assure himself of the required due diligence in
relation to the whole deal. The lawyer and his firm
(33:50):
did not respond to my questions at this point. The
whole Safeworld's John Duff CIA Agent Biblical goal Us Law
Firm drama is a swirling mix of contradictory claims and counterclaims,
with Safeboard investors completely unable to work out what was
fake and what was real, if anything even was to
(34:10):
begin with, and then the multi billion dollar Irish rescue
of the business faulted. It just never happened. Mary went quiet.
Rod shared his thoughts about that in another email to
Mary in twenty twenty.
Speaker 13 (34:24):
You have overseen the demise of a fifty million dollar
company made up predominantly of mum and dad investors.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
John Duff is ninety years old now. I attempt to
contact him for comment by emailing him and contacting the
nursing home he's now living in. I never hear back,
so I write to Mary again. She tells me over email.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
We had a contract subject to finance with John Duff
for US two point two five b in to buy
the world license. Unfortunately, the contract fell through. Unfortunately, some
of our shareholders say tacked and criticized him to such
a degree that he decided to wipe his hands of
further involvement in the corporation. Since then, I have had
(35:09):
a blanket rule that until a purchaser is close to completion,
I cannot reveal his or her name and details. This
seems to be the most sensible rule. I and before me,
my late husband, were both satisfied that he was genuine.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
But I want to talk to Mary face to face,
so I fly up to the Gold Coast. I knew
it would come to this point somewhere down the line.
She's the only one really who knows what to make
of all this. The prospect of seeing her after all
my months of investigations is nerve racking but also exciting.
Mary might have answers. She might be able to help
(35:50):
me understand what happened, what happened to all the money.
But if this doesn't go well, maybe I'll never know,
and neither will all the investors. Circle around Mary's block
a few times, psyching myself up. Then I weighed through
long grass to a humble looking one story brick house.
I wrapped my knuckles against a fly screen door. It's yeah, Hi, Mary,
(36:16):
It's Alston mc cohen from dot com. Are you from
news dot com? Are you? I think we spoke. Yeah,
I was really happy to chat to you again about
the same pod.
Speaker 14 (36:26):
I really don't want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
It gone missing.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
The forty nine million dollars has gone missing.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Forty million dollars in the project. It's it hasn't gone missing.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Then?
Speaker 8 (36:38):
With the money.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Well, it's been spent on the project developing the system.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
But how is all that money spent on a project
that nobody ever saw.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
The investors know what we've done. We've done a Bajor
test for over three years. They know the system, and
ASIK investigated the system from November to July, they found nothing.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Couldn't recommend that that's what it was.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Just that we didn't register the US company in Australia.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
And that we.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Solved too many shareholders in one year and.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
That was it.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Well, you didn't make him right this plasure.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
I don't want to talk to.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Mary doesn't want to continue to talk to me after
this point, so I leave. Some shareholders have surmised Mary
might have been living the high life using their money,
but I certainly haven't seen any evidence of that. As
I've said, her home was pretty ordinary looking and property
records show she doesn't even own it. She rents there
and doesn't have any real estate under her name. Meanwhile,
(37:42):
her son Clayton, part owns a mortgaged house in the
Gold Coast with his wife. He doesn't have any other
properties that I could see. Could Alan have hidden the
money so well that not even his own family knew
where to find it? Or is Mary right? Was the
money all spent on safe worlds? But then why aren't
there any financial reports from the company? Are nothing more
(38:05):
than a clunky, disused website to show for it? Or
is it possible something else happened? I think I know
where to look next to find out. It involves a
mystery gold that you can't physically touch and the notorious
Cayman Islands. That's next time on the missing forty nine million.
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Now that I've seen a certificate the digital belt doesn't exist.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Looks fake.
Speaker 8 (38:37):
That's the most fake certificate I've ever seen.
Speaker 13 (38:40):
A class action may well result.
Speaker 10 (38:43):
They are told I'm a thing by Alan Lloy's what
that was? In a safe somewhere? I see thing dies, Laura?
What's going to happen all this information? And I was
told that it's in a safe a safe place.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Thanks for listening. A new episode is coming out weekly
wherever you get your podcasts, Make sure you subscribe so
you don't miss an episode. Head to news dot com
dot Au to read more of my reporting on this story.
Speaker 8 (39:13):
Do you know more?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Get in touch through our dedicated tip inbox Missing Millions
at news dot com dot au or contact me directly
on Alex dot Turner, Dash Cohen at news dot com dodau,
or look me up on Twitter to get my details.
I'm your host, Alex Turner Cohen. Nina Young is the
executive producer. Sound design and editing by Tiffany Dimack. Our
(39:35):
editorial director is Dan Box. Grant McAvaney is our legal advisor,
and Kerrie Warren is the editor of news dot com Doreau.
Special thanks to our voice actors Margo Murphy, Andrea Tis Evanson,
Sherene Khalil, James Morrow, John ty Burton, Paul Byrne and
Briel Burns. Also thanks to producer Bechday for her helpful
(39:56):
I Was in the Gold Coast
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com