Mother Mary | The Missing 49 Million Ep 5

Yeah, Hi, Mary, I think we spoke.

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 about to go from the already pretty bizarre to outright ridiculous.

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.

Time is right.

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.

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 upon God and your prayers for this to come true.

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.

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 us who can now pledge to liberate this gift to benefit humanity.

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 the chief financial officer of Safe Worlds. He'd seen her as the office manager.

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.

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, but what about the woman herself? This is what comes

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.

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.

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.

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 response has been received. One thing is certain, though, Alan left mother Mary holding the baby because when Alan died,

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.

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 metcalf sent forty five emails to Assek. Sixteen of those were from Allen. His last email to them was just

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 the offer of security dies that require disclosure.

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.

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 August twenty seventeen, Safe Worlds provided a signed, enforceable undertaking to ASEK.

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 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

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, we should have had access to continuous legal advice, an area where we had tried to save expenses.

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 common is it for a company to be investigated like this.

We're just going to go straight to questions this morning.

Ye I'll ask you about a few matters. Have you been following this inquiry?

We have?

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.

Few things today.

Do you think that we.

Have a problem with white collar crime in Australia?

Senator I'll pause, Alex, I'm trying to think about that answer that without expressing an opinion.

On that one.

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 his chair as he tells me why it's important to watch the Watchdog. Can you tell me a bit about

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 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

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.

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 you're going to see any change.

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 nineteen Financial Services Royal Commission. Since then they've changed their enforcement culture and also the circumstances where they'll accept an

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 would be a splitting of asseg UP and a creation of two new bodies.

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 Sydney former sports star who invested a fortune, tells me this is where things get really weird.

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.

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.

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.

As a shareholder himself, Michael says he was excited.

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.

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 a billionaire called John Duff. In Australia, people with a

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 from investor to the other, the ones that really started making me skeptical.

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 he got into a very long, wild exchange of emails with Mary metcalf. As you know, Rod has declined to

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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

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 the platform itself, the only way you could possibly even justify anywhere near that level of valuation for the system

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 a one hundred and twenty four euro a week living allowance from the government in his old age, how can

It seems highly improbable that this person would resign just when the deal was coming to fruition.

Nothing was adding up.

It's a mythical purchase, cannot be backed by its timeline. Non refundable deposit or stand by letter of credit.

Rod's emails infuriated Mary. This is her reply.

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.

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 business associates contact details are on a document I find online. I give it a go. This man eventually gets back

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.

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.

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.

Declan confirms that part of the deal was for Mary's son, Clayton, to get a job.

If you're given this woman two point two five billion dollars, what the hell does her son need a job for.

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.

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.

Of the world.

But Mary didn't agree. As for John's role, Declan declares.

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.

Things soured pretty quickly, though, and Diclan had to get out.

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.

This was the last text Declan sent to Mary.

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.

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 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

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.

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.

I don't know safe Worlds. Intimately.

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.

For a while, he spoke about it daily.

He couldn't substantiate the two point two five billion to any provider.

John was very proactive. Maybe he talked too much too early.

And Jit is pretty confident she could get Duff the billions of dollars he needed.

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.

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 when I ask her about the King Solomon reference and tells me that there are quad trillions of dollars worth

We do create money like that.

If someone invests forty four million, the banks can make money with that by trading it.

In ten days, you'll have a billion.

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 were feeling. They were desperate. The chances of John Duff paying them billions was disintegrating before their eyes, so they

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 any prospective purchaser in connection with any sale of the company, and given what is transpired, it is highly likely that

In another email, Schmul said.

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.

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

You have overseen the demise of a fifty million dollar company made up predominantly of mum and dad investors.

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.

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 a blanket rule that until a purchaser is close to completion, I cannot reveal his or her name and details. This

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 me understand what happened, what happened to all the money. But if this doesn't go well, maybe I'll never know,

I really don't want to talk about.

It gone missing.

The forty nine million dollars has gone missing.

Forty million dollars in the project. It's it hasn't gone missing.

Where is it?

Then?

With the money.

Well, it's been spent on the project developing the system.

But how is all that money spent on a project that nobody ever saw.

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.

Couldn't recommend that that's what it was.

Just that we didn't register the US company in Australia.

And that we.

Solved too many shareholders in one year and.

That was it.

Well, you didn't make him right this plasure.

I don't want to talk to.

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, her son Clayton, part owns a mortgaged house in the Gold Coast with his wife. He doesn't have any other

Now that I've seen a certificate the digital belt doesn't exist.

Looks fake.

That's the most fake certificate I've ever seen.

A class action may well result.

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.

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.

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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 editorial director is Dan Box. Grant McAvaney is our legal advisor, and Kerrie Warren is the editor of news dot com Doreau.