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For other people named Peter Foster, see Peter Foster (disambiguation).
Peter Foster
File:Foster1.jpg
Foster addressing the media at the height of "Cheriegate"
Conviction(s)Advertising & Trading Standards

Peter Foster (born 26 September 1962) is an Australian conman. He has been labelled the "International Man of Mischief" [1] and the "human headline" [2][3] following his involvement in helping Cherie Blair, wife of United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair buy properties in Bristol. He had been convicted on numerous occasions for offences involving weight loss products and property transactions.[4]

Said to be fiercely intelligent [5] (he is a member of Mensa), charming, and witty with a self-deprecating sense of humour, [6] he has also been labelled as "the world's greatest living conman," in Nigel Blundell’s 2004 book, "The Sting: True Stories of the World's Greatest Conmen"."[7] Frank Abagnale who became widely known as a result of Steven Spielberg's screen adaption of the book, "Catch Me If You Can", only ranked fourth behind Foster.

Foster has been linked to a long line of beautiful women, including British Page 3 model turned pop star Samantha Fox, who he dated in 1986-7 and then again in 1994-5; Carole Caplin who described Foster in a 2003 interview in the Mail on Sunday as, "the greatest lover I've ever known".[8]

Foster sold his memoirs of a roller-coaster life to a British publisher for $1.2 million, the largest book deal secured by an Australian in the UK market.[9] In 2009, it was revealed he was planning to make a motion picture out of his colourful career.[10]

History

Foster is widely heralded as one of the world's best salesmen.John Fenton [11] sales guru and marketing legend, the man regarded as "The Billy Graham of Selling", and "Britain's Number One Salesman" described Foster as the best he had ever seen. “If Peter Foster had been on the sales motivational circuit when I was starting out, I’d have never made it,” the 71 year old said. “If Peter Foster isn’t the best salesman in the world, he’s his equal.” [12]

Foster began marketing and selling products at an early age. At age 14, he leased a string of pinball machines to high-rise apartment buildings in Surfers Paradise, and that by 15 he was earning several times more money than his teachers, and soon decided it was time for him to leave school and go into business full-time.[13]

Nicknamed “Kid Tycoon” by Australian Playboy magazine in a feature article, and “The boy with the Midas Touch”, Peter Foster was already promoting themed nights at a Gold Coast discotheque two years before he was legally allowed in the club. At 17 he hit the headlines as the "world’s youngest boxing promoter" when he staged a world elimination title fight featuring British and European Light Heavyweight Champion Bunny Johnson and Australia's Tony Mundine.[14]

In 1983, Foster became a television producer, and filmed a documentary with "The Greatest" Heavyweight of all time Muhammad Ali while living with Ali at his home near Wilshire Boulevard for a period of time.[4] Ali’s third wife, vogue model Veronica Ali, introduced him to Bai Lin, a Chinese diet tea. Foster obtained the rights for Bai Lin Tea for Australia where it was major success, however he was investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and despite never being charged with an offence, the product came under intense media scrutiny due to the claim that the product could result in weight loss.[4] Foster expanded to South Africa, England and throughout Europe where he reportedly made over $30 million in the mid 1980s selling the dieter's dream, primarily in the UK. [15] In marketing the tea, he employed celebrities such as model Samantha Fox, jockey Lester Piggott and Sarah, Duchess of York to endorse the tea, and he became a major sponsor of Chelsea F.C. in 1987 with the team wearing the Bai Lin Tea logo on their jerseys.[16] He was fined £21,000 in 1994 in the United Kingdom for a trading standards offence over Bai Lin Tea, in 1995 was jailed for breaching laws regarding his distribution of slimming granules.[4]

File:Foster ali-01.jpg
Muhammad Ali and Peter Foster, 1983

Peter Foster lived the life of a playboy. He frittered away millions on horses, fast cars, helicopters and chased women, most notably Samantha Fox. He was quoted as saying, "At least I didn't waste any of it."

Following the Bai Lin Tea venture, he subsequently promoted a similar product, Chow Low Tea, in the United States. After publishing an advertisement that claimed that the tea lowered the cholesterol levels of its consumers and placing these in newspapers across the USA, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, he was convicted of a trading standards offence and sentenced to four months in prison. Under California law, where he was based, it was an offence to state that a food product could lower cholesterol (Sherman Food and Drug Act). It was not an offence in any of the other 49 states of the US.[17]

Foster went on to become a maverick marketer worldwide of lotions and potions, pills and patches sold as health and beauty products. He has enjoyed extraordinary success using celebrity endorsement to create consumer awareness of his brands.[18] He was one of the first to realise the selling power of celebrity.[19] Those he has signed to him make a list of the Who’s Who of the famous throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, including Baywatch Star, Pamela Anderson, at the time the biggest TV star in the world. Sporting stars have also featured prominently, including England cricket champion Ian Botham, Australian Rugby League legend Wally Lewis, and AFL star Garry Ablett. Others include Australian TV hostess Kerri-Anne Kennerley and too many others to mention.

Cheriegate

Foster was at the centre of the 2002 Cheriegate affair after it was revealed that he was the financial advisor to Cherie Blair and assisted her with the purchase of two flats in Bristol.[20] It was later established that Foster committed no crimes. He claimed he never sought any financial reward for assisting the Blairs and helped them only out of friendship.[21]

Cherie Blair tried to distance herself from Foster and released a public statement claiming that Foster was not involved with the property deal. The Daily Mail newspaper provided e-mail evidence to the contrary; in one email between Blair and Foster she described him as "a star" and said, "We are on the same wave length, Peter".[22]

She went public herself, tearfully reading a prepared statement blaming her "misfortune" on the pressures of running a family and being a mother.[23] Cherie and Tony Blair at one time agreed to be godparents to the yet-to-be born child of Foster and his partner Carole Caplin, who unfortunately miscarried. Foster was also invited to Chequers to celebrate Christmas with the Blair family, and was a guest at 10 Downing Street on the night of his 40th birthday.[4] Foster later claimed, on his 2004 ABCTV "Enough Rope" appearance, that he believed his partner was pregnant with Tony Blair's child, the product of a long-standing extramarital affair.

Spy

Peter Foster has always been vehemently opposed to drugs, given that his older sister had suffered drug addiction. He advised that he had personally never used an illegal drug, and had a deep dislike for anyone who trafficked in dangerous narcotics. As a result he became an undercover operative for the Australian Federal Police in 1993 and again in 1997.[24]

As former Federal agent Ian Erikkson said in his affidavit filed in the Suva Magistrates Court and the Brisbane Magistrates Court, Peter Foster agreed to travel to Sydney and wear listening devices and attend meetings with targets involved in illegal activities, being the suspected large scale attempt to import cocaine into Australia and money laundering.[25]

Former federal agent Erikkson says, “I believe Peter Foster placed his life at risk in obtaining this information for the AFP. He did so knowing that there would never be any public recognition for his efforts, and his safety and the safety of his family relied upon his role remaining anonymous. The targets were considered very dangerous and capable of killing anyone who acted to their detriment.” [26]

Erikkson says, "His role, and the risks he took, was confirmed in a formal letter from the Australian Federal Police, which remains on file at the Gold Coast District Court having been presented to Judge John Newton. [27]

In 1997 Operation ERUDITE was formed to target the suspected large scale attempt to import cocaine into North Queensland. Again, Peter Foster volunteered to go undercover and covertly recorded face to face meetings with criminal targets. In so doing, I believe he again placed his life in danger." [28]

Activities in Fiji

Prior to the parliamentary election of 2001, Foster invested more than F$1 million in the New Labour Unity Party, a group which broke from the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) in May 2001 in the wake of the coup d'état which deposed the FLP-led government in May 2000. [4] Foster said he supported Dr Tupeni Baba, the former Deputy Prime Minister, because he saw him as the "Nelson Mandela of the South Pacific." [29] Describing himself as a "freedom fighter for Fiji", he was concerned that there could be another coup if the FLP leader and former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who had been deposed in the 2000 coup, returned to office.[30]

On October 25 2006, having fallen out with the Qarase government, Foster was arrested by Fiji police and brutally bashed, resulting in him being hospitalised in a critical condition. Police attempted to say he was injured by the propeller of a small boat while attempting to evade police capture. [31] He spent time recovering in a hospital in Suva and went on a hunger strike demanding that the police investigate the brutality of his arrest. Subsequently the Director of Police Professional Standards Unit, SSP Armogam Goundar confirmed the police team that arrested Foster were being investigated for police brutality after several witnesses accounts matched Foster's complaint that he was struck by a heavy oar across the head, requiring 28 stitches, whilst offering no resistance. [32]. After being released from hospital Foster was handed over to authorities for questioning.[33] The following day, the Fiji Live news service reported that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces had called for an investigation into Tupeni Baba's links with Peter Foster.

Foster was not formally charged but police wanted to interview him about a range of matters. These included presenting a falsified police clearance certificate to immigration authorities in Fiji to obtain a work permit, obtaining loans from the Federated States of Micronesia using some lease documents from Fiji, and impersonating a rival developer to discredit a resort development at Champagne Beach in the Yasawa Islands. [34].

Foster pleaded not guilty in Suva Magistrates Court on three charges: forgery, uttering forged documents and obtaining a work permit on forged documents. Foster was not granted bail at that stage and was sent to Suva's Korovou Prison for the night, before being released on bail the following day.[35]

The Fiji Times reported on 5 December 2006 that Foster had moved to support Frank Bainimarama following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état after being closely involved with deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's political party before the election. Foster was also quoted as saying that "corruption in Fiji was out of control".[36]. Earlier, deposed Qarase had been quoted by the Fiji Village news service on 26 October as admitting that the then-campaign minister of the ruling Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) Party, Jale Baba, had been in contact with Foster prior to the election, but insisted that Baba had acted without the authorization or knowledge of the party. On 21 December, Fiji Village quoted the Britain Times as claiming that Foster had negotiated an agreement with the Fijian Military to expose corruption in the deposed government in return for his own freedom. Fiji Live made similar claims. [37]

It was reported, on 13 December 2006, that Foster could return to jail in Suva after Fiji's Department of Public Prosecutions had applied for him to be remanded in custody.[38]. The DPP made the application in response to Mr Foster's bid to have his bail conditions changed so he could move from house arrest at a Suva hotel to his home on Denarau Island, off the coast of Nadi on the western side of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. [39]

Foster had tendered an affidavit to the Suva court by former Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer Ian Eriksson that Foster worked as an informant for the AFP during the 1990s. Two other affidavits had been submitted from former solicitors to convince the court that Foster would not be a flight risk if he were allowed to move from house arrest in a Suva hotel back to his home near Nadi, a three-hour drive away.[40]

Foster had concerned Fijian prosecutors by checking out of the hotel where he had been ordered to stay as per his bail conditions. Foster failed to appear in court after leaving Suva's JJ's on the Park hotel, where he had been under house arrest awaiting trial on fraud charges relating to his business dealings in the country in 2006. Foster told The Australian that he had been given permission by the Suva court to return to his rented villa near Nadi in a decision by Fiji police.[41]

On 1 January 2007, the Military released what it said was a secretly obtained video of a restaurant conversation between Foster and Navitalai Naisoro, the electoral strategist of the SDL party. Naisoro told Foster that the 2006 elections were rigged, with the full knowledge and cooperation of certain elements of the police. [42] [43] [44] Several Cabinet Ministers were implicated. Ousted Prime Minister Qarase angrily denied the claims. [45] [46] [47] [48] He suggested that the conversation recorded on video could have been staged. [49]

Fiji Television reported on 10 January 2007 that Foster, who was out of prison on bail, [50] had disappeared. On 11 January 2007 it was reported that police in Vanuatu were looking for Foster. Foster had been under house arrest in Fiji, but failed to appear in a Suva court on 9 January 2007. It was also mentioned that police are searching for him after reports he arrived in the capital Port Vila on a yacht.[51] On 14 January, Foster was arrested in Vanuatu at 5:05 a.m. He would appear in court the next morning on charges related to his illegal entry into the country on 8 December aboard Retriever 1 a former Australian minesweeper.[52][53]

File:FOSTER NEWS-WIDE -344PX EE204629 4897.jpg
Peter Foster “If Peter Foster isn’t the best salesman in the world, he’s his equal.” says John Fenton, legendry sales guru.

On 2 February Foster was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment on a charge of entering Vanuatu without a valid visa. The sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest and he was fined 120,000 vatu ($A1,400). [54] He was released from jail on February 4 after serving only three weeks of the six week sentence.[55]

Trivia

Peter Foster entered the 2003 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations with two entries: an email he sent to Cherie Blair saying, "Your pleasure is my purpose", and a quote in an English newspaper, "I am a flawed man, but I do not believe, in my heart, I am a bad man".[56]

Foster twice "dated" the "biggest sex symbol in Europe", topless model turned pop star Samantha Fox. (1986-87 and again 1994-95)

Foster was the first to try and secure a record deal for Kylie Minogue in England after speaking to Amanda Pelman at Mushroom Records in Australia on a visit with Samantha Fox. He says he approached John Brieley of Zomba Records, who turned him down saying Minogue would never make it in England.[57]

Foster worked as a spy and undercover operative for the Australian Federal Police (1993 and 1997)[58] and Derbyshire Force Intelligence (1997) and Fiji Military Intelligence (2006). [59] during dangerous operations which required him to wear listening devices and covertly record conversations with criminal targets.

Foster was reported in the British press to be an agent for Israeli intelligence service Mossad. He denied this report in a nationally televised press statement made at the height of the Cheriegate scandal. [60]

Foster received over $1 million advance for his biography from the Daily Mail newspaper. Written by Daily Mail journalist Richard Shears in 2003,it remains unpublished because of the threats of law suits from people in "high places". [61] This is verified by a copy of the contract which is on file at the Gold Coast District Court and the Supreme Court of Queensland. [62]

References

  1. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald Week-end Magazine 2003, interview by Frank Robson
  2. ^ Mitchell, Alex (March 7, 2004). "Tony Blair was 'intimate' with my girlfriend: Foster". Sydney Morning Herald. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Cracknell and Hellen, David and Nicholas (March 7, 2004). "Conman Foster kicks PM in pants". The Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Malcolm (January 6, 2007). "A few inconvenient untruths". The Age. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/02/1044122259027.html
  6. ^ Griffith Review 5 - Addicted to Celebrity, published 2004 by Griffith University
  7. ^ The sting : true stories of the world's greatest conmen / by Blundell, Nigel. London : John Blake Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 1844540499 (pbk.) :
  8. ^ Mail on Sunday Magazine, March 28, 2003
  9. ^ From the Gold Coast, a 'social leper' books his place in history, Alex Mitchell, The Sun-Herald, 27 July 2003
  10. ^ Foster Fancies Silver Screen, Renee Redmond, The Gold Coast Bulletin, 13 May 2009
  11. ^ http://www.speakers.co.uk/csaWeb/speaker,JOHFEN
  12. ^ John Fenton, "How To Sell Against Competition" published by HarperCollins: interview The Sunday Times
  13. ^ Robson, Frank (1982). "Boy Genius". Playboy Magazine Australia.
  14. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/austory/series4/9934text.htm
  15. ^ Top Five Fake products, Q Magazine, Brisbane Courier-Mail March 2009
  16. ^ True Colours (2007). Controversial kits. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
  17. ^ Magazine article by Judy Folkenberg, Vern Modeland, Marian Segal; FDA Consumer, Vol. 23, December-January 1989
  18. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/26/1059084258468.html
  19. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1415316/A-criminal-career-built-on-vulnerable-women.html
  20. ^ Cheriegate film angers Foster, BBC News, 18 February 2003
  21. ^ BBC News (December 11, 2002). BBC Talkback with Anthony Howard.
  22. ^ BBC News (2003). E-mails you wish you'd never sent. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
  23. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2563649.stm
  24. ^ http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,21006407-401,00.html?from=public_rss
  25. ^ http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Peter_Foster
  26. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1416180/Fosters-four-year-master-plan-to-ensnare-Blairs.html
  27. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1416180/Fosters-four-year-master-plan-to-ensnare-Blairs.html
  28. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1416180/Fosters-four-year-master-plan-to-ensnare-Blairs.html
  29. ^ Peering into a kava bowl, again... predictions for Fiji's election outcome | Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston
  30. ^ Fiji Times, December 3, 2001
  31. ^ Fijilive - Gateway to Fiji, Fiji News, Fiji eDirectory, Fiji Magic, Fiji Real Estate, Fiji Classifieds, Fiji Dating, Fiji Rugby, Fiji Football, Fiji Jobs, Fijian News, Fijian Music, Fiji Houses for Sale, Fiji Holidays, Fiji Sports, Fiji Picture Gallery, Fiji Business, etc
  32. ^ “Foster claims trigger probe” Fiji Times, Edition 1THU 02 NOV 2006, Page 005 Edition 1THU 02 NOV 2006, Page 005 (view at www.newstext.com.au)
  33. ^ AAP (2006). Peter Foster's hospital stay extended.
  34. ^ "Caught: conman Foster's free run finally ends". Sydney Morning Herald (via smh.com.au). 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
  35. ^ "Foster to spend night in Fiji jail". The Melbourne Age (theage.com.au). 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
  36. ^ Military threatens to jail PM - Fiji Times Online
  37. ^ Fijilive - Gateway to Fiji, Fiji News, Fiji eDirectory, Fiji Magic, Fiji Real Estate, Fiji Classifieds, Fiji Dating, Fiji Rugby, Fiji Football, Fiji Jobs, Fijian News, Fijian Music, Fiji Houses for Sale, Fiji Holidays, Fiji Sports, Fiji Picture Gallery, Fiji Business, etc
  38. ^ Peter Foster could be back in jail next week | Herald Sun
  39. ^ Foster moves to island home - Fiji Times Online
  40. ^ Conman Foster 'worked as AFP informant' in 1990s | The Daily Telegraph
  41. ^ Conman checks out | The Australian
  42. ^ Party dares Foster to show cards - Fiji Times Online
  43. ^ Come clean, SDL told - Fiji Times Online
  44. ^ Fijilive - Gateway to Fiji, Fiji News, Fiji eDirectory, Fiji Magic, Fiji Real Estate, Fiji Classifieds, Fiji Dating, Fiji Rugby, Fiji Football, Fiji Jobs, Fijian News, Fijian Music, Fiji Houses for Sale, Fiji Holidays, Fiji Sports, Fiji Picture Gallery, Fiji Business, etc
  45. ^ Qarase denies Fiji vote rigging claims - Fiji Times Online
  46. ^ Fosters poll claims laughable: Qarase - Fiji Times Online
  47. ^ http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34851.shtml
  48. ^ http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34783.shtml
  49. ^ http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_34827.shtml
  50. ^ Local singer provides surety for Aussie conman - Fiji Times Online
  51. ^ Vanuatu police hunt Foster. 11/01/2007. ABC News Online
  52. ^ Fijilive - Gateway to Fiji, Fiji News, Fiji eDirectory, Fiji Magic, Fiji Real Estate, Fiji Classifieds, Fiji Dating, Fiji Rugby, Fiji Football, Fiji Jobs, Fijian News, Fijian Music, Fiji Houses for Sale, Fiji Holidays, Fiji Sports, Fiji Picture Gallery, Fiji Business, etc
  53. ^ Foster to face Vanuatu court. 15/01/2007. ABC News Online
  54. ^ Conman jailed for island hop - World - smh.com.au
  55. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/conman-heads-back-to-australia/2007/02/05/1170523988980.html
  56. ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/the-talented-mr-foster/2007/01/05/1167777279123.html
  57. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/02/1044122259027.html
  58. ^ Conman Foster 'worked as AFP informant' in 1990s | The Daily Telegraph
  59. ^ The British House of Lords, Hansard, Question to Lord Irvine by Lord Spens 2000 April 16
  60. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2580551.stm
  61. ^ G.C. Bulletin 17 March 2003
  62. ^ Case No. 19/09 Peter Clarence Foster v Richard Shears and others filed at the Southport Registry, Southport Court House, Queensland, Australia.
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