00:31.3
Well, what money I could recover, and that's quite possibly none. Assistance with the sale of the house in Dasmarinas.
00:38.0
I can help you with that.
00:38.8
And we have been mercilessly mucked around by the developer, Phil Invest.
00:43.6
I can call Phil Invest so that you can sell it.
00:46.1
Or find a really good new home for that dog.
00:58.2
Sir, how are you since the last time you went to the program and you were able to talk with Senator Tulfo about your problem?
01:25.2
I feel far more optimistic than I was.
01:28.9
I feel that there's a solution to at least some of the problems that have been created.
01:34.5
And I'm just eternally grateful.
01:36.3
How was it dealing with the problems here before you went to the program?
01:39.2
Sure, I was stressed.
01:40.4
I kept running into roadblocks, as we would say, obstacles.
01:45.0
And it just never seemed like something would finally happen.
01:50.1
Obviously, it gets you a bit depressed. It gets you a bit sad and frustrated.
01:56.0
How long have you been staying?
01:58.4
Here in the Philippines, sir.
01:59.6
And how do you find Philippines so far?
02:01.6
Well, the Philippines is a beautiful place.
02:03.9
And that's why what I'm doing is all intended, hopefully, to see me stay here.
02:10.2
What Leah did doesn't make me give up on the Philippines or Philippine people.
02:15.6
It's a wonderful place to be full of wonderful people, by and large.
02:19.2
So I'm hoping that that's the way it'll work out for me.
02:22.6
Sir, how old are you right now?
02:26.6
So if you don't mind, sir,
02:28.2
what was your work back in Australia?
02:31.2
Until 2011, I had been an attorney for almost 30 years.
02:39.2
After that, I purchased a beach resort in northern Australia,
02:44.8
which I operated until the end of 2019.
02:49.0
I sold that resort with the intention that I would then permanently reside in the Philippines.
02:57.4
So this resort that you sold, sir, is worth how much, sir, if you don't mind?
03:02.6
600,000 Australian dollars.
03:05.3
That's approximately 21 million.
03:07.6
How did you end up marrying Ma'am Leonora and how did you meet Ma'am Leonora in the first place, sir?
03:12.4
I met Ma'am Leonora online later 2017.
03:19.2
We first physically met on the 17th of November 2017 when I came to the Philippines.
03:27.4
And it blossomed from there.
03:30.3
How was she before?
03:31.8
Well, she was beautiful, charming, I thought, cared very much for me.
03:37.1
I thought she was a wonderful mother.
03:38.9
I just thought she was a really terrific lady.
03:42.4
So how long was the marriage, sir?
03:44.6
We married in October 2019.
03:48.0
And I started discovering the truth in March and April of 2023.
03:55.1
So you discovered everything, sir?
03:59.6
Okay. So first, she actually admitted on air with Senator that she
04:04.8
got addicted with casino, right, and gambling.
04:07.8
And aside from that, what are the other discoveries, sir, that you found out?
04:12.4
That she had had affairs in the course of our marriage,
04:17.9
not subsequent to its breakdown, but in the course of it, that some of the circumstances of that were really, really hurtful.
04:27.5
And nasty, involved great deceit.
04:31.3
So, for example, on one occasion, I'd come back here after discovering some of the problems.
04:38.7
And Leah was not here.
04:40.5
She'd left the country, so we thought.
04:44.0
And in searching through papers and records here, we discovered an airline itinerary for Leah to travel to Sydney, Australia on the 3rd of October 2022.
04:57.6
And with that, the confirmation of a reservation at a hotel in Sydney in the name of a gentleman.
05:05.1
So whilst I sat here physically in this very house, and Leah telling me she was doing a catering job in Pampanga or somewhere such,
05:15.5
consequently didn't want to come backwards and forwards to home.
05:19.6
Whilst I was under that belief, she was, in fact, in Sydney, Australia with this gentleman.
05:25.5
Do you have a baby with Ms.
05:27.4
Nora? No, we didn't have children.
05:30.3
When and how did you decide to end your marriage?
05:33.6
Well, it's hard to pick an exact date.
05:36.3
I mean, I made up my mind
05:39.3
that it was finished.
05:40.9
There was no prospect of it being saved.
05:45.7
You could never trust again about anything.
05:50.5
Not to mention, I was broke.
05:52.6
I had no money. And how I would be able to stay.
05:57.5
had been caused by Leah, but so many emotions for sadness, anger, grief.
06:03.6
So I can't give you an exact date, but I made up my mind and told her that that was it.
06:10.2
So let's talk about the 30 million plus invested with Ma'am Lenora.
06:13.6
Aside from the casino, are there any other things that you believe that she she spent it with?
06:19.2
I honestly don't know.
06:21.5
All I know is that 30 million is a hell of an amount of money just to be losing at a casino.
06:27.5
Leads me to wonder whether all that money is not in fact gone, but some remains.
06:33.4
Leonora issued you a bounce check.
06:36.3
Yes. Can you explain, sir, this bounce check?
06:38.7
This check was given to me by Leah to bank in Australia
06:43.6
when I returned in February of 2023 for my daughter's wedding.
06:50.8
It was to assist in paying for the wedding, giving them a wedding gift and funding the trip.
06:57.5
Last time, Ma'am Lenora agreed that she will no longer come after this property, this house.
07:04.2
So is this the only property left with you, sir?
07:06.9
Yes. When did you purchase this house, sir?
07:10.6
How much is this house cost, sir?
07:13.6
I gave Leah 2.8 million peso.
07:17.2
It was also mentioned that you have a property in Cebu.
07:20.6
So it's already, you sold it already also, sir.
07:23.7
What was that property?
07:25.0
I don't know whether it exists or not.
07:26.9
I was told that it was already sold.
07:27.5
I was told by Leah, an investment I had made,
07:31.5
and that a friend of mine made with me was a property in Cebu, which was being...
07:37.6
But you never saw this property, sir?
07:41.2
You mentioned also that there is this catering business that she invested with your money.
07:48.1
Were you able to see this catering business, sir, or it never existed?
07:52.4
Well, it didn't exist.
07:54.0
She admitted in the end, yes.
07:55.7
I was angry, shocked.
07:57.5
I mean, you've got to understand, the level of deceit here just went totally against what I previously thought Leah was.
08:06.8
I couldn't have imagined that she could orchestrate all this and do it so clinically and selfishly to ruin other people's lives without a care in the world.
08:17.6
Does your family know about this, sir, knew about this?
08:20.3
How did they react?
08:22.5
Oh, they're disgusted, like me.
08:26.7
Because they'd all met Leah on numerous occasions.
08:32.0
And they thought, as I did, that Leah was a person who she proved not to be.
08:37.8
So shock, anger, despair for me, because it's left me pretty well high and dry.
08:44.6
But they've been very supportive of my family.
08:46.9
What's your children's reactions?
08:49.7
Sadness for me, anger.
08:52.4
There's a little bit of, how could you be so stupid, Dad?
08:56.7
Which is fair enough, I get it.
08:59.1
Do you still have money left with you or Leonora left nothing?
09:04.4
A dear friend paid for the airfare.
09:06.8
My sister gave me enough spending money, as we would call it, to put food on the table.
09:14.6
But I have six thousand and something peso in the bank as we speak right now.
09:22.5
From thirty two million.
09:24.9
I got six thousand.
09:26.1
You got six thousand.
09:28.5
Have you heard any issue or any gossip about Miss Leonora?
09:34.5
Leah's borrowed money from neighbors in this subdivision.
09:39.1
Well, one neighbor, for example, claimed to be owed over a million peso.
09:45.2
When I confronted Leah about that,
09:47.3
she was steadfast and certain that it was more like three hundred thousand peso.
09:55.9
the neighbor and I agreed, agreed that let's call it five hundred thousand
10:01.0
because no one could really know what the real figure was, except that.
10:05.8
What's the lesson you learned, sir?
10:07.6
I'll never trust anyone again, which is not the way I want to live my life.
10:11.0
I want to enjoy relationships where I can invest trust in the other person.
10:17.1
So and I'm determined to do that.
10:19.2
I'm not going to abandon that.
10:22.0
But perhaps I might be a bit more inquisitive
10:25.1
about what's happening.
10:27.4
You know, ask for a bit more information rather than just rely solely on what I'm told.
10:33.5
Let's talk about the dog, sir.
10:34.9
So you had this dog, sir, during your relationship with Mama Leonora.
10:39.7
What's the name of your dog, sir?
10:41.8
You wanted to transfer Nicky to Jensen, sir.
10:46.9
With that, sir, we will also assist you as promised by Senator Raffi.
10:50.9
And one step at a time, we will, of course, start it with the title.
10:55.2
We will talk to Phil Invest.
10:57.3
And later on, we will also help you, sir, to send Nicky, the dog, to Jensen.
11:03.3
And you don't have to worry about the shipping or the I don't know how you
11:06.6
call it, the fees, sir, because Sir Raffi will help you with that, sir.
11:10.4
Thank you. I hope
11:13.0
that somehow or other it works out for you.
11:16.5
I certainly hope you don't gamble anymore and that somehow or other you can pick yourself up and
11:25.2
build a productive life going forward.
11:27.0
I mean, what's done is done.
11:28.3
I can't say I'm very happy with you at all, but I don't want you to not better
11:35.0
yourself going forward and having a reasonable life.
11:55.3
So that's what you would assume, a man's dance.
12:00.7
And since I asked, you know, I knew that you couldn't give me the time
12:06.6
yet you started doing your work and ultimately made me want to respect you.
12:13.7
He is a good person.
12:25.1
A heartfelt thank you to Senator Tolfo and his wonderful staff.
12:52.4
We've been today to fill in vests and got some answers to some questions and I feel so much better about it now.
12:58.6
And also today we arranged for our beloved Nikki, the Belgian Alsatian, to be sent to General Santos.
13:07.4
That bill was kindly paid by the Senator and we're very grateful.
13:11.8
Thank you to everyone for your support.
13:22.4
Thank you for watching!
