Police raid conman Peter Foster, issue no warrant

Police have raided Australia’s known conman, Peter Foster, over allegations of being involved in planning a murder of a private detective, Ken Gamble.

Gamble was investigating a case of a failed online gaming business. Foster was reportedly hiding more than $11 million which he grabbed from the victims of the business. The ABC reported on Wednesday that Foster was allegedly planning to murder Gamble.

On Tuesday, Queensland police and the NSW force together raided Foster’s property at Byron Bay and his home on the Gold Coast Sovereign Island where his mother resided. Several phones were seized, but there was no strong evidence to lay charges. It is unclear if Foster’s mother was involved in the alleged murder conspiracy.

Gamble has been chasing Foster for three years after the conman reportedly cheated 160 investors in the Sports Trading Club and transferred $11.5 million to offshore accounts in Hong Kong, Cayman Islands and Vanuatu.

The reports also claimed that Australian Federal Police and Queensland forces recovered an audio recording where the fraudster was heard contacting a hitman in the Philippines where the private detective stayed in November. The recording claimed the hitman was offered $80,000 for killing the detective in Manila. The suspect promised to deposit $30,000 in the hitman’s account once he gave his consent to the contract.

The raid, however, did not result in any arrest or issuance of an arrest warrant for Foster. The police raid came three weeks after Foster was released from prison. His release, followed by a verdict from the Federal Court in Brisbane, surprised many as he was originally sentenced to an 18-month imprisonment.

The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission and the AFP were collectively working on the matter. Detective Superintendent David Hutchison has confirmed that Foster was being investigated and interrogated, but denied providing any further details.