Our new favourite …
Podcast
What’s it called?
Who The Hell Is Hamish?
What’s it about?
The trail of financial destruction left behind by a charming and charismatic Australian conman known to one of his victims as Max Tavita and to others as either Hamish McLaren or Hamish Watson – though those are only three of several aliases he used in a crime spree lasting decades and ranging from London to Canada to Hong Kong and back to Australia.
Who’s in it?
The podcast is presented by Greg Bearup, a journalist with Sydney-based newspaper The Australian, and features his narration of the convoluted tale interspersed with interviews with McLaren/Watson’s many victims, among them well-known Australian fashion designer Lisa Ho. She lost her pension (and ultimately her business) but was also the subject of a sophisticated scam in which the conman arranged payments to her suppliers which they never received.
Best bits so far?
McLaren/Watson was finally charged in 2017 and pleaded guilty to 18 counts of fraud. He’s now in prison but as recently as last month he successfully had his sentencing delayed for psychiatric assessment, so the story isn’t over yet – and to prove the point, each episode of the podcast ends with a call from The Australian for anyone else with information about him to contact them. This one will run and run, as they say.
Where can I find it?
The podcast is available to download from iTunes.
For fans of ...
The Teacher’s Pet, another blockbuster podcast from The Australian covering a criminal case which made (and is still making) news headlines around the world.
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