Peter Foster

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Peter Foster, (born in Australia on 26 September 1962) has been described as the ultimate "international man of mischief"^[1] , a super salesman to some, conman to others, but undoubtedly a person who has lived a champagne lifestyle in the fast lane for over two decades, mixing with the rich and famous and earning himself the title in his native Australia as the "human headline" and in the British media as "Fleet Street's favourite Conman".^[2]

Said to be fiercely intelligent (he is a member of Mensa), charming, witty, entertaining and with a self-deprecating sense of humour, ^[3] he has also been labelled as "the greatest conman of all time," in Nigel Blundell’s 2004 book, The Sting: True Stories of the World's Greatest Conmen.

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, the style guru to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, described Foster in a 2003 interview in the Mail on Sunday as, "the greatest lover I've ever known".

Contents 1 Cheriegate 2 Natural born salesman 3 Politics and Power 4 Trivia and Facts 5 References

[edit] Cheriegate

Foster was at the centre of the Cheriegate scandal that rocked the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair in 2002.

"Cheriegate" was a massive political scandal that almost brought down the British PM after it was revealed that Foster was the "financial advisor" to his wife Cherie Blair and assisted her with the purchase of two flats in Bristol.

Cherie Blair tried to distance herself from Foster and deliberately lied when she briefed the press office at Number 10 to go public with a statement claiming that Foster was not involved with the deal. She was caught out when the Daily Mail newspaper provided e-mail evidence that she had lied. In one email between Cherie and Foster she described him as, "a star" and said, "we are on the same wave length, Peter". ^[4]

She went public herself, tearfully reading a prepared statement blaming her "misfortune" on the pressures of running a family and being a mother. Her attempts to downplay the relationship with Foster backfired when it was later revealed that she and Tony Blair had agreed to be godparents to the yet-to-be born child of Foster and his partner Carole Caplin (Caplin later miscarried) Foster was also invited to Chequers to celebrate Christmas with the Blair family and had gone to 10 Downing Street on the night of his 40th birthday.

It was later revealed that Foster did nothing at all wrong and the scandal was solely because of Cherie misleading the press. Foster never sought any financial reward for assisting the Blairs, seeing it as simply what friends do to help one another. ^[5]

[edit] Natural born salesman

Foster was a born salesman. At about 12 years of age he arrived at school with briefcases that contained watches and shark-tooth and pig-tusk necklaces for sale. He even sold the Headmaster stop watches for the school sports carnival, at a price 75% less than they could buy elsewhere, earning him a reputation amongst teachers as being the "most likely to succeed." ^[6]

On week-ends Foster would sell his wares at the local markets. At 14, seeing where his friends spent most of their time after school, he leased a string of pinball machines to high-rise apartment buildings in Surfers Paradise. The pocket money of kids his age ended up in his pocket. At 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.^[7]

Foster first hit the headlines as the "world’s youngest boxing promoter" when at the age of 17 he staged a world elimination title fight featuring British and European Light Heavyweight Champion Bunny Johnson and Australia’s Tony Mundine.

By his late teens he was already a local identity in Australia – labeled "the Kid Tycoon", and "the Boy Genius" in a Playboy magazine article published in 1982.

In 1983, at the age of 20, Foster became a Television Producer and scored a world exclusive when he travelled to Los Angeles and filmed a documentary with boxing great Muhammad Ali.

Foster won over Ali's confidence by presenting him with a bronze sculpture that had taken an aboriginal artist over two years to produce. Ali was so impressed by the attitude of the young Australian that he entrusted him with a rare insight into his life and Foster lived with Ali and his wife Veronica at their Hancock Park mansion off Wilshire Boulevard for six weeks during filming.

Foster would repay Ali’s trust by deciding not to release the film he wrote, produced and directed, as the behind-the-scenes access showed the rapid deterioration in Ali’s health, at the time thought to be brain damage from too many punches, but years later diagnosed as Parkinson's Disease.

Ali's wife, Vogue model Veronica Porsche Ali introduced Foster's mother to a supposedly slimming tea called "Bai Lin Tea". Foster obtained the rights for Bai Lin Tea for Australia where it became an overnight success. Foster expanded to South Africa, England and throughout Europe where he reportedly made over $20 million ^[8] in the mid 1980s selling the dieter's dream.

Foster displayed his marketing genius with Bai Lin Tea, utilising celebrities such as Samantha Fox, legendary jockey Lester Piggott, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and a host of others to endorse the tea. He even became the main sponsor of Chelsea Football Club in 1987 with the team wearing the Bai Lin Tea logo on their jerseys.

[edit] Politics and Power

In 2001 Foster became the major financier of New Labour Unity Party (Fiji), a Fijian political party, which broke away from the Fiji Labour Party in May 2001 following the coup. Foster invested over $1 million in supporting New Labour and became its Chief Of Staff in charge of the 2001 election campaign. He ran what was described as a very slick and professional campaign.^[9] Foster said he supported Dr Tupeni Baba, the former Deputy Prime Minister because he saw him as the "Nelson Mandela of the South Pacific." ^[10]

Foster said he became active as a "freedom fighter for Fiji" and he was concerned that if former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, who had been deposed in the Fiji coup of 2000, returned as Prime Minister, there could be another coup. ^[11]

On October 25, 2006, Foster was arrested by Fiji police where before the arrest he leapt from a vehicle and jumped into the river. Police then commandeered a boat and gave chase.

It was reported he went under the boat and he hurt himself, probably from the propeller of the boat. He has a gash on his forehead and he's recovering in Suva's Colonial War Memorial Hospital. It has been reported that he will be in hospital for a few days before being handed over to authorities for questioning ^[12]

Foster has not been formally charged but police want to interview him about a range of matters, including presenting a falsified police clearance certificate to immigration 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 ^[13].

On October 30, 2006 it was reported that Foster had proposed to Fijian police to drop assault charges against them, if he was allowed to leave the country with no charges lodged against him ^[14].

It was reported on 7 October that Foster will spend the night in a Fiji prison described as 'unfit for humans' after he was formally charged with fraud offences. 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 ^[15].

On 12 November 2006, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Foster's sister Jill Foster was arrested before boarding a Pacific Blue flight from Nadi Airport bound for Brisbane when she was stopped by immigration officers. One of the officers said she was wanted by police in Suva to answer allegations in some fraud related cases regarding her brother.^[16]. On 13 November it was then reported that she was released on bail after pleading not guilty to fraud charges and she did not have to be present when the case is to be called again on November 20.

Foster had re-appeared in a Fiji court on 24 November 2006 to ask for his bail conditions be varied. He had appeared in the Suva court before Magistrate John Semisi to apply "for variance to bail conditions". The reason for a relaxation in his bail was to allow him to move to his house in Nadi from a place at JJs on the Park, where he was "virtually" under house arrest. Foster's lawyer, Mehboob Raza, asked for a week to prepare submissions but Mr Semisi adjourned the case to December 11, 2006.

The Fiji Times reported on 5 December 2006 regarding the 2006 Fijian coup d'état that Foster had switched sides to support Commodore Bainimarama after being closely involved with the Prime Minister's political party before the election. Foster was also quoted "corruption in Fiji was out of control"^[17].

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

It was reported on 13 December 2006 that Foster may end up back in jail in Suva after Fiji's Department of Public Prosecutions applied for him to be remanded in custody as reported by the Herald Sun^[18]. 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 other side of Fiji's main island Viti Levu.

The next day it was reported in The Australian, 14 December that Foster had tendered an affidavit to the Suva court by former AFP officer Ian Eriksson that Foster worked as an informant for the Australian Federal Police 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.^[19]

[edit] Trivia and Facts

• Despite being labelled a "fraudster" and "conman", Foster has never been charged or convicted of fraud or theft or obtaining money by deception. He offences were all minor violations of company rules and regulations, and although he has served prison sentences they were not for fraud. ^[20]

• Foster was the first to try and secure a record deal for Kylie Minogue in England. After seeing her on television in Australia in 1986 whilst touring with Samantha Fox, he approached Zomba records in London, who turned him down saying Kylie Minogue would never make it in England.

• Foster donates 10% of his income to children’s charities. He has been a major contributor to the Help a London Child charity since 1986 and more recently he has been sponsoring underprivileged teenagers in the South Pacific to go to University. It is reported that he has personally given over $ 5 million to children’s charities. He does not seek publicity for his philanthropic work. ^[21]

• Foster became Australia's highest paid first time author when he 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. ^[22]

[edit] References