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Crime Investigation Channel - Series features Andrew Harper

Victims Fight Back

Liz McIntyre - North West Star

TWO women from Mount Isa are featuring in globally televised documentary that will screen to millions of viewers.

But rather than being seen as the victims of a love rat or a heart-break bandit, both women are pleased and proud that they busted Harper and saw him jailed for fraud for nine months in Melbourne.

Rochelle Fisher and Diana Mors were both deceived by con artist Andrew Harper who has 23 female victims that the women know of.

Now, thanks to the documentary, millions of people around the world will be warned about the man they call a skilled manipulator, a sociopath who feels no remorse.

Harper was released from jail in August last year and fled to Europe earlier this year, so Ms Mors and Ms Fisher hope their show will prevent other people from being duped there.

"It is not just women who have been the victims of his cons; men have been duped too, both personally and through their businesses," Ms Mors said.

She said she was taken in by him, and took him in, for only two weeks - but others had longer relationships with the plausible con man.

Ms Fisher met Harper through a share-accommodation website when she was living in Adelaide.

"He moved in, swept me off my feet and at the same time came up with a great idea for my business.

"I thought we were going to be making a TV show together - he conned a film production crew, some celebrities, talent agents and many business people.

"The show was a scam and Andrew pocketed the money.

"I believed he was covering all of the bills but when he left me, I found a stack of $60,000 worth of bills hidden away."

Ms Fisher said she had to declare bankruptcy and face the reality that the six months of her life with Harper had been a lie.

He then went to Melbourne and did the same thing to his next victim, Ms Fisher said.

"She went to the police and a detective found the website and blog Diana had started up about Harper, recognised him as the con man and were able to arrest him."

Ms Mors paid tribute to the Melbourne detective Alex Montgomery who pursued Harper and brought him to justice.

"I'm triumphant and I'm very proud that I was able to catch him," she said.

She wanted to stress the story was not just another "dating botch-up" but it was about the work of a very skilled, devious charlatan.

"None of us actually handed over money to this man; he was just a parasite.

"He stayed at apartments for free, he lived off women and deceived businessmen.

"He got flown to places and signed contracts for property, a plane and a boat."

What drove Harper was risk, Ms Mors said.

"He is a sociopath and lacks empathy.

"Conning is his livelihood and he works at it."

Ms Fisher said she wanted to speak out for all conned victims who couldn't speak out for themselves in the hope that people would blame the perpetrator and not the victim.

"I am very grateful that we had the opportunity to shine the international spotlight on Andrew Harper and on con artists in general.""Victims of con artists feel stupid after it happens to them and they don't want to talk about it, because they feel ashamed and often friends and family add to the feeling of shame by blaming the victim.

The program, airing on the Crime and Investigation Network, will be screened on Foxtel in Australia later in the year.

  

SURVIVOR: Rochelle Fisher recreates a scene where she googles Andrew Harper's name.

2012 Photographs

Passport Photo

Jan 2012 Victim Andrew as Clayton Cooper

Information we received from another potential victim. This information was received 23 January 2012 while he was grooming the latest European victim. Note Clayton Cooper IS Andrew John Harper. As our goal is to expose Andrew, NOT his victims some changes have been made to the original text to protect the identity of the victim and these will appear in italics and beige.

I am writing to let you know that I could have been Mr. Cooper's next victim. I was in contact with Clayton Cooper on a daily basis for a period of a month between late November 2011 and early January 2012. We skyped on occasions for 10 hours at a time. I must have literally spent days and days talking to this guy. He is very good, I was totally smitten. I consider myself to be a fairly smart and level-headed person and am totally appalled that I was taken in by him.

I am a single mother residing outside Australia and we met on-line. He contacted me and (was) funny and intelligent and genuine. As I expect with the others, his tales of what we could do together, where we could travel together (and he even asked me to move in with him) just turned my head. (omitted) I was so happy to be the center (or so he said) of someones world and that the fact that it was such a world made me (omitted) so level-headed. I fell for all his lines .... the money.... the people that he knew .... the Monet's that he owned, though I have to say that by this time I was starting to get a little suspicious.

He told me, (omitted) that he was going to come visit me. He was going to be opening a business here employing a lot of people. He even had my friend who is a realtor looking for houses for him to buy. Twice the trip was put off. The first excuse; he was found with some undeclared paperwork on his private jet and that he was being investigated by the FBI and Interpol and had to get a tax audit done. A week later he was cleared of all charges and he would be on his way again. And then the last excuse was that his friend had committed suicide. Alarm bells started ringing and I sent him an email asking him some pertinent questions about his identity and why wasn't he on google or any other websites if he was who he said he was? I got a reply back saying that he wasn't in a good place at that time and that he would contact me when he finally got here.

Well as you have already guessed he hasn't arrived to date. I was so fortunate that we parted company before he had the chance to scam me out of any money (I have none so he would have found that difficult)

Paragraphs omitted for privacy and protection 

I am one of the lucky ones - but there might be more out there that are not as fortunate as me. 

Good luck ladies.

Andrew John Harper in Europe as Tyler Wiltshire May 2012

Our latest victim has discovered that AJH is incapable of "going straight".  He was successful in portraying this blog and the website, successful in his arrest and conviction, as witch hunts by broken hearted and scorned women. 

Such is his skill that our latest victim financed his journey out of Australia to France. Mission accomplished he is in a new territory where there has been no media coverage.  For those in the know, AJH is successful in his ruse because he tells just enough truth to be convincing, however it is always coated in a good layer of lies and deception. This is the work of a true sociopath/psychopath.

We doubt he will ever return to Australia as he is still wanted for questioning in several states for crimes under investigation. This is a blessing for all women in Australia. No so for our European sisters. He is banned from entering the USA for visa violations, so Europe it is. 

Such is his lure for wealth he will probably try to get to Monaco and see if he can out-do Steve Martin and Michael Caine in his quest to succeed as a "Dirty Rotten Scoundrel"

Our latest victim writes:

AJH has just conned his latest victim! Using the name Tyler Wiltshire he has been conning an English woman living in the South of France with his home made fake Paypal bank account, fake Commonwealth and fake Commsec bank accounts as well as producing fake government documents and emails addresses passing himself off as several lawyers, tax office officials and bank directors. He will have surely left the country by now and the UK looks like his next target having striped this last victim of everything he could and ruining her business.

A string of Swiss lawyers, Fiduciaries, Real estate agents, Luxury car garages, Notaries and a British boat builder have also been caught up in the con

More details to come soon

So the pattern continues.

As a post script, AJH repaid his airfare and passage to Europe by convincing BNP Paribas to open a bank account and extend a 3,000 Euro overdraft. No surprises, they will never see that money again, but fortunately our victim has received some compensation for his parasitic ways.

2012 (Jan) Andrew Resurfaces unchanged

After only 3 months since our nemesis Andrew Harper was released from incarceration he has resurfaced with two new pseudonyms:

Edward Jordan and
Clayton Cooper

He is now "grooming' a woman who currently resides in Western Europe. Thankfully she had cause to become suspicious as a result of his broken promises to fly to Europe to meet with her. He has "planned" to do this twice to date and failed to show in each instance. As her suspicions deepened she had the good sense to Google "Australian Con man". With luck our blog was article #1; followed by a subsequent reference to our con man's incarceration on the Love Fraud website.

We are very grateful that his latest victim came to us for confirmation and now can be free of his clutches. Our potential co-victim confronted Andrew during a Skype discussion and immediately he confessed to his past claiming "he has changed and wanted a new clean non corupt (sic) start"

She writes: "He knows we (her with Rebecca, Diana and Roz) are in contact as I told him this morning I had found out who he is. He has told me, admitted everything"

We know he is incapable of "going straight". If he were genuine in doing so he would repay the court ordered $22,000 to the victims of his latest arrest and certainly would not be giving TWO false names, phone numbers and email addresses to this next potential victim.

Unfortunately, some damage has already been done to her psyche as he has been proficient in casting his spell on her, but on the plus side she trusted her gut instinct enough to check up on him.

She wrote to us at stopharper@live.com and we have been in contact with her offering advice, support and coping strategies. She has read this blog and we have reinforced this information with details of our own experiences of this proficient con artist.

Remember, if you have had any dealings with any of the following names or know his whereabouts, contact us at stopharper@live.com

Andrew John Harper
Ryan Reece DuPont
Andrew Karlsson
Edward Jordan and
Clayton Cooper

Cruel love rat ends up in a cage

Photo caption: TIP-OFF: Brisbane victim Rebecca Bell helped net conman John Harper. Picture: Mark Cranitch Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

Daryl Passmore, Jon Kaila

From:The Sunday Mail (Qld)

February 06, 2011 12:01AM

LOVE rat and serial conman Andrew J. Harper boasted of being a billionaire with luxury houses but his home for the next nine months will be prison.

The 39-year-old, who left a trail of victims with his bogus stories of life as a high-flying international businessman, pleaded guilty in a Victorian court last week to 13 charges spanning five years.

But police still want to talk to him in three other states - Queensland, NSW and South Australia - about the possibility of further charges being laid.

Harper was arrested following a tip-off after two Brisbane women, Rebecca Bell and Diana Mors, set up a website to expose and catch him.

Ms Bell was in court to see him jailed. "It's awesome," she said. "He got what he deserved.

"I wanted to be here to represent all his victims and let him know this hasn't ended.

"The sentence is a big achievement for everyone involved. It brings us one step closer to closure and helps protect others. We are all very happy."

Harper, who told women he met through internet sites that he was Australia's second-richest man and claimed tycoon Sir Richard Branson was a friend, wore a white T-shirt and green tracksuit bottoms for the 41-minute hearing at Frankston Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Magistrate Ross Betts, who also ordered Harper to repay $22,244.96, said: "You have perpetuated a premeditated, malicious and cruel, cruel deception that warrants imprisonment."

Prosecutor Darren Cathie told the court: "He claimed to be a multi-millionaire, have property in Monte Carlo with a boat and vehicles. He also claimed that he was the director of a Korean shipping company."

The victims included Victorian mum-of-two Katherine Pizzey, 36.

Harper negotiated to buy her a Maserati Gran Turismo valued at $347,000 and a $718,000 Ferrari 599 for himself.

For each purchase, penniless Harper would have contracts sent to email addresses for fake personal assistants and lawyers "to be checked over", but no money ever exchanged hands.

When his victims questioned him, Harper gave a sob story so they would let him stay in their homes.

"He stated he had cancer and was receiving chemo treatment," Mr Cathie said.

Gary Adshead- The West Australian

Friday, Feb 4

Gary Adshead writes a column called Inside Cover, which featured several articles regarding Andrew Harper in 2005. Click this link for the 2005 articles.

Cruel love cheat Andrew John Harper jailed

Jon Kaila

From:Sunday Herald Sun

February 06, 2011 12:00AM

A SERIAL love cheat has been sentenced to nine months' jail and ordered to repay more than $22,000 to victims after being exposed by the Sunday Herald Sun.

Andrew John Harper, 39, carried out "sophisticated" and "cruel deception" after convincing victims he was a businessman worth $1.6 billion.

The fraud convictions span five years and four victims: mother of two Katherine Pizzey, 36, of Mt Martha, Sydney mum Teresa, who doesn't wish to be identified, the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Geelong, and the Dingley International Hotel, Dingley.

Harper pleaded guilty in Frankston Magistrates Court on Wednesday to 13 charges, but police in three states - Queensland, South Australia and NSW - still want to talk to him about the possibility of further charges.

Prosecutor Darren Cathie said Harper claimed to be a multi-millionaire and the director of a Korean shipping company.

For each property purchase, penniless Harper had the contracts sent to email addresses "to be checked over" by fake personal assistants and lawyers.The court was told how he had bought two luxury cars, a Maserati and a Ferrari, totalling more than $1 million, $30,000 worth of jewellery and two homes worth a total of almost $20 million.

He even said he was receiving chemotherapy for cancer.

Harper ran up thousands of debts on his victims' credit cards.

Sentencing Harper, Magistrate Ross Betts said: "You have perpetuated a premeditated, malicious, cruel deception, which warrants imprisonment."

One of Harper's victims, Rebecca Bell, who came from Brisbane to see the conman sentenced, wants more charges laid.

"I wanted to be here to let him know this hasn't ended," Ms Bell said.

Wagga born conman to pay $22 000 to dumped woman

BEN HIGGINS

04 Feb, 2011 01:00 AM

WAGGA-born conman Andrew Harper has been jailed for nine months and must repay his victims more than $22,000.

Harper was sentenced in the Frankston Magistrates' Court on Wednesday after being convicted of eight counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and six charges of obtaining property by deception.

The 39-year-old will serve another six months in a Victorian jail after he was arrested on November 17.

The magistrate also ordered Harper to repay $22,195 to his victims after he conned several women with promises of international travel, luxury items and relationships.

Harper was arrested in Glenroy, Victoria, after being recognised by a member of the public and charged with 34 counts of fraud and deception. It was revealed last year that Harper had a number of aliases including Ryan DuPont and Andrew Karlsson and claimed to be a high-profile entrepreneur worth $1.6 billion.

Harper allegedly stole thousands of dollars from woman across Australia and the world with victims in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth as well as Norway, Sweden and the US coming forward.

The now convicted conman was born and raised in Wagga before falling out with his family and it is believed he has a son from a former relationship who lives in the city.

A jilted woman left in Harper's wake even established an internet blog to expose his tactics at www.andrewjharper.blogspot.com.

Sentenced!

Andrew John Harper has been sentenced in the Frankston Magistrates Court to a further 6.5 months in jail, making a total of 9 months for approximately 20 charges of fraud and deception.

He has also been ordered to repay the Victorian victims and hotels a total of $22 000.

Charges are still pending in SA, WA, NSW & QLD

How I caught a Conman

TAHNEE WATSON

06 Jan, 2011 12:00 AM

TO most Mount Isa residents she is "Delightful Diana", the effervescent gym operator of Curves in the city.

But what many do not know about Diana Mors is that she has become the public face that helped bring an alleged conman before the court.

She met the bogus billionaire, Andrew Harper, in late 2008 when living in Brisbane.

Ms Mors, 44, was taken by his charm, good looks and sense of humour and before long Mr Harper was renting a room at her house.

"He talked about the houses he owned overseas and the Picasso painting he had... all of these things for which he had photographs to back up," she said.

But it didn't take Ms Mors long to realise that all was not as it seemed.

Read more at http://www.northweststar.com.au/news/local/news/general/how-i-caught-a-con-man/2040592.aspx?storypage=0

Contact Us

If you have any information regarding Andrew John Harper, please contact us at:

stopharper@live.com

Love, Betrayal and Revenge - Woman's Weekly, Jan 2011

These three women were duped by a charismatic con man, but fought back by warning other women on the web. Now he’s under arrest, reports Jordan Baker.

(Woman's Weekly had to change Andrew's name for legal reasons)

It was the eyes that hooked Diana Mors. His charm and generosity were appealing, too, but she loved his George Clooney gaze – a gaze that made her feel like the only woman in the world. Tom* was funny, handsome and smart, almost too good to be true. But, she reasoned, good things eventually come to those who deserve them.

It was in late 2008, as they got to know each other through emails, that Tom told her of his loneliness after his fiancée died in a car accident. He mentioned only in passing the fortune that alloweé him to take extravagant holidays, wander the country and go back to university. He was new to Brisbane and would be staying a little while, he told her. He had a suggestion: could he rent a room at her house rather than stay at a lonely hotel?

He moved in, romance blossomed, and Tom showed his gratitude by taking her shopping for designer clothes and a car. They had have extravagant dinners. But Tom never paid for the shopping sprees on the spot, and the purchases were never delivered. When they dined out, she would pay and he’d add it to the money his personal assistant was transferring to her account.

When, after six weeks, he owed her about $2000, Diana told Tom to leave and sort his finances out. “You know where I am once you’ve worked things out,” she told him. He packed his bags and disappeared. She later found out he moved straight in with Rebecca, a woman he met online using Diana’s internet connection.

While living at Diana’s house, Tom had dazzled smart, savvy Rebecca Bell, 33. He shared many of her interests, and she was moved by the tragic story of his fiancée who died in a car accident. “He had a lot of confidence and I think that enticed me,” Rebecca says. “You feel like you haven’t had a connection with someone like that in a long time.”

He was wealthy, he told her, but expensive hotels were lonely. He was staying with a friend, but would rather rent a room off Rebecca. She invited him into her home and romance blossomed. He valued her opinion and consulted her about his business dealings. She saw emails and texts from his associates, which seemed to back up his tales. He took her shopping for expensive gifts, although there was always a reason why he could not pay on the spot.

“Each time I’d try to ask him questions, he’d produce a document or email, or turn it around on me, saying how could I not trust him?” she tells The Weekly. As Rebecca waited to move into a house he said he had bought for her, Tom flew to Adelaide to give a speech on carbon credits. “I knew he was leaving,” she says. “I was relieved. And then a little light bulb went off in my head.”

Rebecca dug out the phone number of the “friend” he’d mentioned, a woman called Diana, and sent her a text message. It read: “I’ve been with Tom. I think he’s a con man.” Diana called her immediately. “Honey,” she said, “you don’t know the half of it.”

Using information they remembered from conversations with Tom, they tracked down one of his victims, who in turn helped them track down others. With painstaking research, they pieced together the past 10 years of his life and contacted 21 women across Australia and the USA, who had been hurt and ripped off by Tom. Diana and Rebecca learned that there were worse cases than theirs; some women were financially ruined. Their quest became two-pronged – to protect other women, and to support those who had fallen victim. They call it a “survivors group”.

Yet on the many occasions they tried to report Tom to police, they got little sympathy. “Police would say there’s no law against lying or moral misconduct,” says Diana. “What gets me is if I walked into David Jones and took thousands of dollars worth of goods, I’d be in prison. But when he walks into someone’s life and rips them off, you get a condescending look and ‘buyer beware, honey’.”

Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.

If you have any details regarding Andrew John Harper please contact us at: stopharper@live.com

Contact us!

If you have any information regarding Andrew John Harper, please contact us at the following email address:

stopharper@live.com

A series of articles written by Gary Adshead (West Australian) in 2005.

A series of articles written by Gary Adshead (Perth) in 2005.

Life of Smoke and Mirrors

After years of dodgy deals and bogus claims Andrew Harper's world of make believe is finally closing in on him when you begin exposing a conman operating from a small Osborne Park office and suddenly receive emails from Ohio in the United States about one of his multi-million-dollar frauds, you quickly realise you've got a tiger by the tail.

Andrew J. Harper's globetrotting confidence tricks are so breathtaking in their diversity and audacity, they make his most recent $3 million play for Perth 's Mulberry on Swan function centre pale by comparison.

At the same time last year that he was organising the construction of a $530,000 racing powerboat in Vermillion, Ohio, Mr Harper was negotiating to buy a 19th century castle in Ireland and trying to stitch up a deal with British American Tobacco.

These deals were being worked on from fictitious business addresses in Sweden , Sydney and the Cayman Islands , but not one of them was ever going to materialise because the real Andrew J. Harper doesn't have a cent to his name.

The only assets the 34-year-old from Wagga Wagga in NSW has are his imagination, persuasive personality and unscrupulous ability to use people before seeking out his next target and his next grand fantasy.

He says he has a law degree.. It's a fake. He says he owns businesses in Sweden . It's a lie. He says he has a banker called Bjorn Andersson. He doesn't exist. But one thing is for sure. At 2.52pm yesterday, Mr Harper was still in Perth and he answered his mobile phone.

“Congratulations,” he said.. “I've been advised by my barrister not to talk to you.”

A Perth mother and businesswoman, who Mr Harper forged a relationship with over the internet, has been his latest victim, though The West Australian was told on Thursday she still had not accepted that. The woman was blunt before hanging up when she was telephoned by the newspaper yesterday. “I've been better, I've got no comment,” she said.

Mr Harper has been living with her since mid-April, after telling his last lover in NSW that he was flying to Adelaide for a business meeting.

Subiaco jeweller Ron Smales might be another person in a state of denial over Mr Harper. He has refused all week to discuss the status of the $3 million sale to Mr Harper of his Mulberry on Swan function centre in the Swan Valley .

Signed contracts also exist with Perth car dealers for a range of prestige vehicles, including a $170,000 Ferrari, a $40,000 Bentley, a $400,000 Maserati and an Aston Martin with a similar price tag.

Like the Ohio powerboat deal with Platinum Powerboats, these will go nowhere. “He had a contract with us for $US400,000 and he never came through,” Vickie Dyke, of Platinum Powerboats, told The West. The business still has the boat it built for him to prove it.

From the United States of America to the Eastern States of Australia , it appears Mr Harper's future options are finally being restricted.

NSW police are investigating him for credit card fraud and misrepresenting himself as a lawyer. Victorian detectives have received complaints from a number of businesses about a total of $200,000 they are owed. His family in Wagga don't want to know him and the family of the woman he is seeing in Perth want him to disappear.

There is some suggestion that he planned to do just that this weekend and that he had already convinced the Perth woman to travel with him to Europe , where he has to close another big deal. But on Tuesday when The West came face to face with Mr Harper in an Osborne Park street, he was as cool as ice and wasn't going anywhere.

Apart from being a little startled when we called out his name, the conman was on song as he rolled his eyes and shook his head as every allegation was put to him. “I understand that there are always reporters that want to make a name for themselves,” he said. “I would ask, what would anyone have to gain from making all this up?“

Perhaps it's Mr Harper who is trying to make a name for himself. Trail leads to Mulberry on Sweden

*************************************************

An email from Sweden has thrown Inside Cover back on the trail of shameless conman Andrew J. Harper.

With time still ticking away on that Mulberry on Swan function centre deal, another one of Harper's victims has made contact with stunning new details of his life of deception.

Anna Johansson met Harper in Alice Springs in 2002 when he worked behind the counter of an opal shop - a far cry from the $10 million-a-year job his references claim he held at that time. “He told me he was taking a year off his law studies,” she said. “That's what I was doing and so we had something in common, but now I know he never studied law.”

IC had hoped the Perth businesswoman currently being sucked in by Harper would be able to read this latest account of his relentless trickery, but we understand she flew to Monte Carlo with him at the weekend.

“I hope she doesn't lose too much to him,” Ms Johansson told IC from her office in Stockholm . “He never comes through on any of his promises. I wasn't wealthy, but he conned me and he conned everyone around us. “I'm still paying off a loan of about $20,000 to cover what I lost.” So besotted was the Swedish law student she became engaged to Harper in 2003 after he moved to Stockholm to live with her.

“I had my doubts about him, but it's hard to admit someone has completely fooled you,” she said. “It's a big blow to my ego to think I could be so gullible. “I almost signed up to a house with him, but it was the bank in that deal which made me realise what he was all about. “He had cut and pasted a forged document to appear like his bank statement.”

But Ms Johansson now realises she was just one in a line of women Harper has either fleeced or attempted to fleece, including a mother of three from Sydney . “I eventually kicked him out in May last year, but I really didn't know all the things he had done,” she said. “There is a very wealthy woman in Norway who fortunately woke up to him very early on.”

Ms Johansson was aware that Harper was trying to do deals with the Jordan Formula One Racing Team and this week the company confirmed its contact with the 34-year-old charlatan from Wagga Wagga in NSW.

“He was likely using the documentation to con his way into the Formula One paddock,” Jordan director Mike Jones told IC. “Thanks very much for bringing this to my attention.” Information has also emerged that Harper was in Perth some years ago operating from a Guildford office and making fraudulent orders for Hummer 4WD vehicles. “There was a private airline in France he went through the motions of buying,” Ms Johansson said. “They were thrilled and kept flying from Sweden to sell the concept to him. But it didn't happen.”

Like all the companies and anyone else conned by Harper, Ms Johansson said he has to be stopped. “He does what he does with pre-planning and his eyes wide open,” she said. “He must be held responsible.”

*******************************************************

Harper's bizarre deal goes belly up

Real estate firm Remax has confirmed that Andrew J. Harper's bogus $3 million deal to buy function centre Mulberry on Swan has officially gone belly up. “We've closed the file on it,” Remax boss John Percudani told Inside Cover. “The deal is at an end as far as the current contract goes.”

But Subiaco jeweller and function centre owner Ron Smales still was pursuing the deal on Wednesday evening and sent two representatives to a business run by Harper's lover in Osborne Park .

IC won't name her or her firm because she has a young child and is just the latest innocent victim of Harper's ruthless life of deceit.

Right now, the conman and the woman are in Monte Carlo at her expense while friends, family and business colleagues fight a losing battle to persuade her she's been hoodwinked by Harper's charm. As incredible as it sounds, Harper has managed to convince her that the transfer of all his millions of dollars from Europe to Australia has been stalled by the sudden death of his “Swedish banker”, Bjorn Andersson, in a car crash.

It doesn't appear Mr Smales is interested in any more excuses. His representatives were asking for a $1 million cheque to be made out to his company when they turned up unannounced at the woman's office. IC understands anxious staff members had to explain they weren't in a position to write out a cheque for such a large sum of money. No one at the office would discuss the latest developments in the Mulberry on Swan debacle and Mr Smales still was not returning IC's telephone calls yesterday.

Because of Harper's contract to buy the function centre, with the intention of turning into a private home, Mr Smales has wound down the business, laid off 25 staff and put a stop on bookings after July 2. “Whether another contract to buy comes along remains to be seen,” Mr Percudani said. “There were certain obligations that had to be met in the previous contract which were not met and so I closed the file.”

The Mulberry deal will prove to be one of many around Perth that involve Harper and which will come crashing down. With his fake documents to back up his make-believe story of being a high-powered lawyer earning up to $10 million a year through major corporate deals, Harper has signed for a Ferrari, Bentley, Maserati and Aston Martin with Perth car dealers.

There's also a luxury boat deal which already has sunk.

What remains unknown is the number of deals Harper has done or convinced his lover to do using the name of her legitimate business in Osborne Park . Sources have told IC that some people in her company are extremely concerned about its future when Harper's chickens come home to roost.

Not even the series of damning stories published in The West Australian about Harper's previous victims, fabricated law degree, unpaid debts and bogus references has managed to sway their boss. As of yesterday, she was standing by her man believing The West Australian was being sued for writing a pack of lies.

But there hasn't been a whisper from any lawyer despite days of calling Harper a conman, fraudster, trickster, liar and charlatan. Maybe IC should throw low-life scum into the mix and see what happens.

That was the view of Harper expressed by a woman in Sweden, who not only lost about $20,000 to his fraudulent ways, but two years of her life spent being his girlfriend and fiancee.

“The trick is for people who have suspicions about him to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt,” Anna Johansson said. The most serious accusation against him is that he pretended to be a lawyer in property deals in NSW. Police are waiting to speak to him.

But if Harper is true to form, then things will unfold in the following way:

After their stay in Monte Carlo , he will tell his lover that he needs to travel to Sweden to sort out his up-in-the-air financial affairs in the wake of his non-existent banker's non-existent death. She will fly home to Perth and will never see Harper again because he knows the only thing waiting here for him is a world of trouble. With the help of close friends and family, she hopefully will pick up the pieces and move on after Harper's heartless intrusion in her life.

********************************

Harper dream team is pure fiction

Even after several weeks of peeling back the layers of conman Andrew J. Harper's fraudulent life, the latest revelations are stunning. Just in case Harper did arrive back in Perth last night as scheduled, Inside Cover wanted to assure him that he and his Mulberry on Swan property deal deception remained firmly in the column's sights.

We can now reveal exactly how he convinced his targets of his wealth and business power by manufacturing from scratch six corporations that appeared to be operating with their own company directors, accountants and lawyers.

Harper Aviation Finance, Camport Hotel Group, Synchronicity Sports Marketing, Harper Venture Capital, Vineyard Developments, A.J. Harper Property and Evergreen Energy came under the umbrella of A.J. Harper Holdings.

“Today the group has offices and locations spread throughout Australia , USA and Northern Europe ,” his fabricated company overview reads. “Once the divisional management and the CEO agree on a project it is taken on with the ferocity that has placed the group in the strong position it enjoys today.” Harper didn't just create the names of the executives on his management teams, he uses photographs of people to give them legitimacy.

“Andrew Campbell B.Sc. (Hons) LL.B was previously Senior Vice President Finance for Cadbury Schweppes,” one profile reads. Then there's his asset manager Brian Sullivan, his chief financial officer, David Casey and company director Ken Wallace. IC found plenty of people around the world with these names, but none of them work for Harper and Harper's companies exist only in his imagination.

The $320 million value given for one company alone also is fiction. Where photographs of the people in these latest documents originated is anyone's guess, but IC doubts the men would be too pleased to discover their images were being used by a conman. Other documents show the fantasy trail he has blazed in recent times around the world.

From the concierge at the Le Meridien Hotel in Beverly Hills was a note to Harper regarding his inquiries in September last year about buying a Rolex watch. “It appears that Geary's is the only authorised Rolex dealership in Beverly Hills ,” the concierge wrote.

There's a contract for $1.3 million drawn up by a Malibu car dealer in relation to Harper's plans to buy brand new Mercedes-Benz cars in March last year. “$50,000 deposit - hold for 48 hours,” reads the document.

Still in America and evidence of Harper's approach to a Kentucky-based boat dealer. “We would like to help you in your request to purchase a 46 Skater,” wrote Lake Cumberland Marine's Randy Hartmann in a fascimile. A Skater is a powerboat worth about $US800,000 ($1.03 million) new.

None of this helps Mulberry on Swan function centre owner Ron Smales, who will be trying to resurrect the Swan Valley business while wishing he'd never heard Harper's name.

CONMAN INC.

Evergreen Energy Pty Ltd

A.J. Harper Property Holdings Ltd

Synchronicity Sports Marketing Ltd

Harper Venture Capital Inc

Vineyard Developments Pty Ltd

Harper Aviation Finance Ltd

Camport Hotel Group Ltd

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Harper's con still weaves its magic

Family, friends and work colleagues of the Perth businesswoman being conned by habitual liar Andrew J. Harper are becoming extremely worried after learning that the fraudster might still be in WA. The woman, who Inside Cover will call Susan, has returned from an apparent week-long holiday in Europe and IC understands that Harper is still in her life.

Nothing written by this column outlining Harper's make-believe existence has managed to convince her that the 34-year-old has been conning her ever since January when they met via an internet dating website.

Even after the $3 million Mulberry on Swan function centre deal crashed, a number of contracts for luxury cars went nowhere and Harper's own family made efforts to warn her, Susan still thinks the new man in her life is a multi-millionaire lawyer wanting to settle down in Perth.

As a last resort, IC will reveal damaging new emails Harper wrote to his last female victim in late April and some details about his life Susan may not know. He is originally from Wagga Wagga in NSW and has several brothers and sisters. He has been distant from his family for many years after he turned his relentless ability to deceive on them.

In 1995, he was married to a Wagga woman called Simone and they had a baby boy in 1998. It's believed that Harper's father ran out of patience when he found some money missing. But perhaps a series of emails written by Harper to his previous female victim at the same time that he was in Perth with Susan might force the penny to drop.

Harper supposedly had left Sydney to attend a wind farming business meeting in Adelaide on April 8. These emails prove how he kept up the charade while all the time he was, in fact, with Susan.

April 15, 2005: “Heads down, bums up here. Getting through stuff. I am going out to the farm now at Elliston to inspect the damaged grid. Love you, Andrew.”

April 18, 2005: “Will be able to call soon. Big stuff happening here. It's all very heavy. Miss you, love AH.”

April 21, 2005: “I am on my way home. Can't wait to see you. I will call when I know the flights. Miss ya, Andrew.”

The truth is that Harper had arrived in Perth by April 11 and wasted no time in beginning his new bogus life with his newest victim, Susan. He took her to a luxury car dealer to order a $180,000 Ferrari and the date on the contract proves it. IC has amassed a pile of documents to back up everything the column has written and Susan, you're welcome to read them.

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Harper blows smoke to tobacco giant

The saga that has given Inside Cover more mileage than a marathon runner's shoes just won't go away.

Not that tree at Parliament House!

IC is referring to the saga of Andrew J. Harper - the only “multi-millionaire lawyer” this columnist has been able to call a low-life conman more than a dozen times and get away with it.

Almost six weeks after sending an email to corporate giant British American Tobacco about one of Mr Harper's brazen global plays, IC has finally received a reply.

Documents once belonging to Mr Harper and obtained by IC suggested he was trying to get a foot in the door of Formula One racing, or, at least get his hands on official material to make it seem he was involved in the sport. BAT spokesman David Betteridge has confirmed both deductions are correct.

“Andrew Harper (Harper Holdings) registered an interest when we were looking for investors in British American Racing - the Formula One team in which we held a 90 per cent stake,” he said. “He was one of a number of people/ organisations expressing interest.

“He signed a confidentiality agreement last March and we sent him background information. These documents are confidential (business plan and the like).

“We've not met him nor had any other communications with him.” Neither has IC for several weeks, but it's understood he is still in Perth.

There has been speculation that he and the woman he continues to fool are thinking of moving to either New Zealand or Malibu in the United States where Mr Harper has apparently been working up some new business venture. He's probably convinced some poor unsuspecting soul he's a champion Aussie surfer wanting to set up a chain of bikinis shops.

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Legal eagle line is another one for the birds, Sharon

A woman called Sharon Tulp is about to get very angry with Inside Cover.

She's the genuinely nice person being duped by conman Andrew J. Harper and who now believes the column is in the throes of being sued by her man.

Thing is, Ms Tulp, who runs a legitimate real estate settlement agency, is convinced that IC is about to be taken to task in the courts by none other than Stuart Littlemore QC - the former acerbic host of the television program Media Watch.

Harper has managed to fool her into thinking the high-profile Sydney lawyer, with a reputation for ripping journalists apart, is acting on his behalf and has issued The West Australian with a writ.

But it's all another lie and Mr Littlemore was in no doubt about that when he sent an email to IC on Friday. “I can confirm that I have not accepted any brief to act for Mr Harper,” the lawyer said.

An assistant of Mr Littlemore's responded in a similar fashion to an earlier email. “Mr Littlemore QC tells me he knows nothing of this matter,” the woman wrote.

Enough readers keep asking for updates on the Harper saga to justify a report on this latest development and some other news that's come to hand about the Eastern States conman who won't go away.

IC has evidence that a mysterious character named “Johnny Walker” is supposedly supplying information to Harper to damage The West. This Johnny Walker uses the email address of oodiablooo@hotmail.com and claims to know the internal workings of the newspaper.

Ms Tulp believes his information is gold. IC is certain he's another of Harper's fictional characters used by him to stall for time. It would all be so pathetic if not for the people employed by Ms Tulp, who fear for their futures as long as Harper remains in their boss's life.

Short of continuing to write it as it is, there's nothing more IC can do.

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2009 - Harping on

Cast your mind back to Inside Cover circa 2005 and the name Andrew J. Harper should ring a bell.

He was the powerboat-driving, Ferrari- owning, skirt-chasing global billionaire who landed in Perth, caused a sensation and vanished.

Well, he’s popped up on “the grid” again. Not much about him has changed. He’s still a complete fraud and conman, only this time Queensland has been his hunting ground.

His female victims have been emailing an old IC snout with tales of woe at horrible Harper’s hands.

“You don’t know me,” wrote one broken heart in Brisbane . “We have an unfortunate connection in the conman Andrew Harper.”

IC spent hours unravelling Harper’s lies and pulling apart his doctored documents, but sadly the law still hasn’t caught up with him and he is continuing to prey on women and companies in Australia and the US.

“A very good friend of mine and her seven-year-old son were conned by Andrew in the US ,” another Harper hater revealed.

“He used the same stories about having millions tied up because his banker passed away. He conned them out of $25,000.”

Harper heralds from country NSW and since his dishonesty was exposed, his stunned family has shut the door on him. But a new fabricated document sent to IC proves Harper is still at it and on a grander scale. It has the logo of PricewaterhouseCoopers on the top and is what Harper used to convince people he’s worth a cool $1.6 billion. How could anyone be sucked in by him?

He picks his vulnerable targets carefully using dating websites and other means and then pounces with all the male magnetism he can muster. Before long, the woman, her finances and her family become easy pickings.

Having come face to face with Harper, IC knows how well he lies. Perhaps PwC could do the world a favour and file a fraud complaint against him. We’ll supply the paperwork.