http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/swindlers-turned-doctor-into-a-3m-fool-for-love-20111130-1o770.html
Swindlers turned doctor into a $3m fool for love
Tim Elliott
December 1, 2011
LILY was a "mystery blonde". Neil was a gynaecologist. Paul, who liked Porsches, ran a dating agency. Theirs was a mismatch made in heaven which ended up last week in the NSW Supreme Court, in a case described by Justice Michael Pembroke as "so fantastic as to strain credulity".
It all began in October 2007, when Dr Neil Wallman, a recently divorced 55-year-old obstetrician and gynaecologist from Gosford, contacted Hearts United, an introduction agency on the Gold Coast run by Paul Mladenis and his wife Snezanna.
After paying $200,000, Dr Wallman was introduced to Lily Bolivique, a blonde Chinese-Australian who lived in Sydney. After wining and dining during a weekend on the Gold Coast, Dr Wallman became "infatuated". Ms Bolivique also seemed smitten, telling him she would fly down soon to see him. Mr Mladenis even suggested Dr Wallman pay $100,000 for a "special VIP package" which would cover their wedding and honeymoon, should they decide to marry.
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<em>Illustration: Cathy Wilcox</em>
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
"Mate, things are going well for you and Lily," he told Dr Wallman. "[The package] will give you peace of mind."
Soon after, however, Ms Bolivique rang Dr Wallman to cancel their rendezvous, saying her father was sick in Melbourne. Days later she rang again, this time asking for a loan of $200,000, to enable her to "release funds from my father's finances in Croatia". After being assured by Mr Mladenis that he could trust Ms Bolivique, Dr Wallman obliged.
It was then that, as Justice Pembroke put it, "events spiralled". Over the next 18 months, Ms Bolivique and Mr Mladenis extracted, piece by piece, more than $2 million from Dr Wallman, who by this time moved to the Gold Coast, blissfully unaware that he was the agency's only client.
The Mladenises, meanwhile, went shopping. Between October 2007 and April 2009, they spent $526,000 on cars, including a Porsche (for him), a Lamborghini (for her), a BMW and a Lexus, plus $633,000 on Gold Coast property.
Then Ms Bolivique disappeared. "Lily [has] done a runner back to Croatia," Mr Mladenis told Dr Wallman. Mr Mladenis explained that he too had lent her money, and that the only way to get it back was to commence legal proceedings, with Dr Wallman footing the bill. Late last year Mr Mladenis travelled to Croatia to "meet with lawyers", all the while texting Dr Wallman with requests for cash.
When Ms Bolivique fled to Manila, Mr Mladenis followed. "Mate, I'm chasing down that bitch in mamilla with some heavys," he texted. First, however, he needed yet more money. "Neil can u transfer 4700" … ''Can u lend me 6500"…"Can u send me 9 k pls…"
By March this year, Dr Wallman had paid $3,137,884. He was already broke. (He'd been declared bankrupt in August 2010). Yet when he baulked at paying more, Mr Mladenis got nasty. "Do the transfer so I can come bk or don't ask me to help u," he texted. "If I didn't give a f--- I wouldn't have comme here to f--- lily up with bikers so do it."
All of it was false. There were no bikers, no lawyers and no love, or certainly not from "Lily", who, according to Justice Pembroke, appeared then disappeared from Dr Wallman's life like "a vanishing chimera". The whole affair, his honour concluded, had been cooked up to extract money from a lonely, gullible man. He also directed that all of the money paid by Dr Wallman (other than the initial $200,000) be repaid to his bankruptcy trustee.
Meanwhile, Hearts United is still online.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/swindlers...ol-for-love-20111130-1o770.html#ixzz1fFhICGiI
Swindlers turned doctor into a $3m fool for love
Tim Elliott
December 1, 2011
LILY was a "mystery blonde". Neil was a gynaecologist. Paul, who liked Porsches, ran a dating agency. Theirs was a mismatch made in heaven which ended up last week in the NSW Supreme Court, in a case described by Justice Michael Pembroke as "so fantastic as to strain credulity".
It all began in October 2007, when Dr Neil Wallman, a recently divorced 55-year-old obstetrician and gynaecologist from Gosford, contacted Hearts United, an introduction agency on the Gold Coast run by Paul Mladenis and his wife Snezanna.
After paying $200,000, Dr Wallman was introduced to Lily Bolivique, a blonde Chinese-Australian who lived in Sydney. After wining and dining during a weekend on the Gold Coast, Dr Wallman became "infatuated". Ms Bolivique also seemed smitten, telling him she would fly down soon to see him. Mr Mladenis even suggested Dr Wallman pay $100,000 for a "special VIP package" which would cover their wedding and honeymoon, should they decide to marry.
Advertisement: Story continues below
<em>Illustration: Cathy Wilcox</em>
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
"Mate, things are going well for you and Lily," he told Dr Wallman. "[The package] will give you peace of mind."
Soon after, however, Ms Bolivique rang Dr Wallman to cancel their rendezvous, saying her father was sick in Melbourne. Days later she rang again, this time asking for a loan of $200,000, to enable her to "release funds from my father's finances in Croatia". After being assured by Mr Mladenis that he could trust Ms Bolivique, Dr Wallman obliged.
It was then that, as Justice Pembroke put it, "events spiralled". Over the next 18 months, Ms Bolivique and Mr Mladenis extracted, piece by piece, more than $2 million from Dr Wallman, who by this time moved to the Gold Coast, blissfully unaware that he was the agency's only client.
The Mladenises, meanwhile, went shopping. Between October 2007 and April 2009, they spent $526,000 on cars, including a Porsche (for him), a Lamborghini (for her), a BMW and a Lexus, plus $633,000 on Gold Coast property.
Then Ms Bolivique disappeared. "Lily [has] done a runner back to Croatia," Mr Mladenis told Dr Wallman. Mr Mladenis explained that he too had lent her money, and that the only way to get it back was to commence legal proceedings, with Dr Wallman footing the bill. Late last year Mr Mladenis travelled to Croatia to "meet with lawyers", all the while texting Dr Wallman with requests for cash.
When Ms Bolivique fled to Manila, Mr Mladenis followed. "Mate, I'm chasing down that bitch in mamilla with some heavys," he texted. First, however, he needed yet more money. "Neil can u transfer 4700" … ''Can u lend me 6500"…"Can u send me 9 k pls…"
By March this year, Dr Wallman had paid $3,137,884. He was already broke. (He'd been declared bankrupt in August 2010). Yet when he baulked at paying more, Mr Mladenis got nasty. "Do the transfer so I can come bk or don't ask me to help u," he texted. "If I didn't give a f--- I wouldn't have comme here to f--- lily up with bikers so do it."
All of it was false. There were no bikers, no lawyers and no love, or certainly not from "Lily", who, according to Justice Pembroke, appeared then disappeared from Dr Wallman's life like "a vanishing chimera". The whole affair, his honour concluded, had been cooked up to extract money from a lonely, gullible man. He also directed that all of the money paid by Dr Wallman (other than the initial $200,000) be repaid to his bankruptcy trustee.
Meanwhile, Hearts United is still online.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/swindlers...ol-for-love-20111130-1o770.html#ixzz1fFhICGiI
