Hamish McLaren: How a serial scammer not only fleeced investors of $70 million but also groomed the 16-year-old granddaughter of one of his victims when he was 51

A serial scammer has been branded “cruel” and “sick” after he groomed and dated the 16-year-old granddaughter of one of his victims.

Hamish McLaren, 54, squandered $70 million from dozens of victims around the world by posing as an investment fund manager and promising huge profits.

He took advantage of elderly couple Lorraine and Peter, who ultimately lost $1.65 million in his scam.

However, not content with stealing their money, McLaren began dating his 16-year-old granddaughter ‘Jane’, who had originally been in a relationship with his stepson.

“I actually think he was grooming her when she was 15 or 16,” Lorraine told the documentary King Con: The Life and Crimes of Hamish McLaren on Channel Seven.

He added: ‘What he did to Jane was simply despicable. He is a very cruel man, a very sick man.

Peter said the relationship with McLaren, who was 51 at the time, irrevocably damaged his granddaughter’s life.

“Good at sports, good at everything and now she’s a disaster,” Peter told the show.

McLaren wooed her with trips and promises that he could take her to Princeton for college.

McLaren received a 16-year prison sentence in 2019 for his crimes, which was later reduced to 12 years.

Forensic psychologist Dr Shohom Das said McLaren’s pursuit of a 16-year-old showed he had “no moral compass”.

“He appears to be sexually attracted to this 16-year-old girl, meanwhile he lies to his own wife Bec and defrauds this young woman’s grandparents,” he said.

“This really shows that there is almost no line he won’t cross, no level of depravity he won’t stoop to.”

McLaren’s crimes were featured on The Australian’s award-winning podcast Who The Hell Is Hamish?, which investigated how he had been scamming people since the 1990s.

His other victims included Australian fashion designer Lisa Ho and single mother Tracy Hall.

Hall, from Sydney, met McLaren in 2016 under a pseudonym he used called Max Tavita.

He finally convinced her to transfer $317,000 (her life savings) into her own pocket.

“He gained my trust because of the image he portrayed,” Ms. Hall previously said.

“The Max Tavita I knew was the chief investment officer of a family office hedge fund, so it was a story that he built over time.”