It was a mysterious moment in Paramount+’s hit streaming drama Fake when the love rat character who preyed on actor Asher Keddie’s character alluded to how he himself had supposedly been scammed.
Now the true story behind this moment can be revealed, and it’s proof that truth can be stranger than fiction. The alleged scammer can be revealed as Sydney socialite Hollie Nasser’s older brother Timothy Alford.
Alford’s alleged $6 million scam on another scammer, romance scammer Sean Lander (played on the show by David Wenham), went sour when Lander posted a lurid online threat about Alford’s family.
Details of Alford’s confrontation with Lander have now resurfaced after it was revealed late last year that the FBI launched an investigation into fraud allegations against Alford.
The $50 million embezzlement investigation spans two countries and involves alleged scams against American billionaires and the ex-wife of a French president.
And it is just the latest chapter in an increasingly tangled story for a family that has repeatedly been at the center of scandals and intrigue in recent years.
In 2021, Hollie Nasser became a central part of Sydney’s biggest love scandal when she eloped with her best friend’s husband.
Socialite Hollie Nasser’s older brother, Tim Alford, allegedly owes a number of debts, but was once threatened by a notorious scammer.
The Nassers, on the left, and the Aitkens, on the right, socialized together as wealthy, powerful couples, with Ellie and Hollie feted as leading figures on Sydney’s social circuit.
Alford, 41, a Newcastle-raised venture capitalist, lived a quieter life as Hollie’s lesser-known older brother when he suddenly hit the headlines three years ago.
She became embroiled in a complicated love triangle with her best friend’s husband, investment banker Charlie Aitken, who was still married to corporate lawyer, Ellie.
Close friends Ellie and Hollie, 38, were honored as leading figures on Sydney’s social circuit and regularly photographed at charity functions and events.
Along with Hollie’s then-husband, millionaire publican Chris Nasser, the four had socialized together as rich and powerful couples.
But when Hollie and Charlie’s affair became public, Nasser quickly withdrew his $7.5 million investment in Aitken’s fund management company, Aitken Investment Management.
The company had previously attracted investors such as billionaire Channel 7 owner Kerry Stokes. In November 2021, Nasser resigned from the board of directors.
Despite the high stakes, Hollie’s romance with Charlie Aitken later broke down and she went on to date the managing director of eastern suburbs-based Saxons IT, Marshal de Saxe.
Elsewhere in Sydney, another love drama had unfolded that had turned sour, with con artist Sean Lander exposed as a love rat.
He had become romantically involved with journalist Stephanie Wood, who had been portrayed as a retired architect with a sheep estate.
David Wenham as the love rat who tricked the journalist played by Asher Keddie on the TV show Fake.
Love rat Sean Lander, played by David Wenham on TV in Fake, goes to court after being found guilty of stalking Hollie Nasser’s brother.
What seemed like a stimulating romance with a compassionate, loving and sincere man fizzled out for 16 months amid his frequent absences, strange excuses and date cancellations.
Wood discovered that the man she fell in love with was actually an unreleased bankrupt with a criminal record who was involved with another woman.
His 2019 book Fake, in which he refers to himself by the pseudonym Joe, was turned into a gripping Paramount+ TV drama earlier this year.
It starred Wenham in the role inspired by Lander and Keddie playing a character based on Wood.
But a year after the book’s publication, Lander himself was accused of threatening Nasser’s brother, Tim Alford.
The two men had a history.
‘End up like McGurk’: Chilling messages delivered in court
Lander told Downing Center Local Court that in 2016 he made a real estate deal with Alford, who was supposed to pay a $6 million deposit, but instead sent him a forgery.
As a result, he said, he lost the property and the equity he had built up in it. He has spent years searching for funds without success.
Alford has since denied that the $6 million deposit was made.
In March 2020, Lander was accused of threatening Alford by sending him an uncaptioned photograph of a large man in a hoodie standing outside the home of Alford’s mother, Kerrie, facing the property’s gate.
The text message preceding the photo included the ominous phrase “last chance.”
Ellie Aitken and her then husband Charlie before the 2021 love scandal
Embattled financier Charlie Aitken is seen picking up his former business partner’s wife, Holle Nasser, also his ex-wife Eliie’s former BBF, for a Sunday afternoon date in December 2021.
Hollie Nasser with her ex-husband, millionaire publican Chris Nasser
In April 2021, Lander admitted to the threat in court, but said he was acting in “self-defense.”
He said he had sent the image in the mistaken belief that the house was Alford’s, as it was the address Alford gave after the bitter $6 million business deal.
Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson found Lander guilty of using a carriage service to threaten, harass or offend, but accepted that he did not know he was threatening Mrs Alford by doing so.
He sentenced Lander, 58, to a two-year community corrections order, saying a reasonable person would find the image “threatening, harassing and offensive”.
He also read a large volume of “very solid” text message and email exchanges between Lander and Mr. Alford, “so the flavor of the parties’ interactions is clear.”
In the first message, sent on February 28, 2020 via WhatsApp, Alford tells Lander that his claim is “nonsense” and “beyond crazy,” and that “I have never met you or had any dealings with you.” with you”.
Lander replied: “You are certainly the most extraordinary liar.”
Two hours later, Alford told Lander he could get his wife’s number in five minutes and “I wonder what she would think of all this.”
After more hostile messages, Alford told Lander, “You’ll end up like McGurk, dead, because of the way you do business.”
Alford had previously been pursued by failed property developer Ron Medich over an alleged $300,000 unpaid loan.
Medich is currently serving a 39-year sentence for the “execution-style murder” of his rival Michael McGurk, for non-payment of money.
Alford has denied owing money to Medich.
Nine newspapers have alleged that Alford has left a trail of debts related to the FBI investigation, which he denies.