Catherine Coleman watched from the sidelines as Max Tavita entranced her good friend Tracy Hall. It's very difficult to burst the Hamish bubble, but she tried her hardest, fact checking his story however she could. But what do you do when you find evidence, but your friend refuses to take it seriously?

Catherine Coleman watched from the sidelines as Max Tavita entranced her good friend Tracy Hall. It's very difficult to burst the Hamish bubble, but she tried her hardest, fact checking his story however she could. But what do you do when you find evidence, but your friend refuses to take it seriously?

He was born Hamish Watson – but he could morph into whatever you needed him to be. Greg Bearup investigates how this surfie dude from Sydney duped victims around the globe for decades. 

He was born Hamish Watson, a surfie dude from Sydney – but he could morph into whatever you needed him to be. 

After pleading guilty to 18 charges, Hamish McLaren was sentenced in June 2020 to an aggregate sentence of 16 years in prison with a non-parole period of 12 years for 17 counts of fraud. He was given a fixed sentence of 7 years and 6 months for a single charge of money laundering, to be served concurrently. His overall sentence was reduced to 12 years imprisonment with a nine-year non-parole period on appeal in 2021.

McLaren was released in July 2026 after nine years behind bars.

These crimes are just the final pages in a resume too thick to staple; for decades he’s duped victims in the US, Canada, Britain, Hong Kong and Australia. How did he do it? How did he evade authorities around the world for so long and what’s he done with all those tens of millions of dollars he stole?

He was born Hamish Watson, a surfie dude from Sydney &ndash; but he could morph into whatever you needed him to be.&nbsp;
After pleading guilty to 18 charges, Hamish McLaren was sentenced in June 2020 to an aggregate sentence of 16 years in prison with a non-parole period of 12 years for 17 counts of fraud. He was given a fixed sentence of 7 years and 6 months for a single charge of money laundering, to be served concurrently. His overall sentence was reduced to 12 years imprisonment with a nine-year non-parole period on appeal in 2021.
McLaren was released in July 2026 after nine years behind bars.
These crimes are just the final pages in a resume too thick to staple; for decades he&rsquo;s duped victims in the US, Canada, Britain, Hong Kong and Australia. How did he do it? How did he evade authorities around the world for so long and what&rsquo;s he done with all those tens of millions of dollars he stole?

He was born Hamish Watson, a surfie dude from Sydney – but he could morph into whatever you needed him to be. 