Sydney - An Australian carpet-layer relieved his new bride
of almost everything she owned by convincing her he was a secret
agent engaged in international espionage, a court in Melbourne was
told Wednesday.
Wayne Charters, 54, pleaded not guilty to obtaining money by
deception from single mother Karen Roberts, but agreed that he had
stolen the suits he and his best man wore at the 2003 wedding.
'I genuinely believed he was the man of my dreams,' Roberts told
the court.
She was sadly disabused when Charters, who claimed his
carpet-laying was a cover given him by Australia's intelligence
agency, fled to China after the honeymoon.
He lived there for five years - teaching English, practising as a
medical doctor and passing himself off as a brigadier general
recently retired from the US Army.
Charters, who had married again in China, was arrested on his
return to Australia last year. He claimed he had come back to face
justice, but it was alleged in court that his return had more to do
with facing criminal charges and a spell in a Chinese prison.
The court was told that Charters persuaded Roberts to sell her
house and other possessions and put the proceeds in a joint bank
account.
He told her he needed to leave Australia urgently because he 'knew
too much' and was in danger of being 'eliminated.' Roberts was warned
that if she blew his cover she too would be rubbed out.
Roberts said she realized she had been conned when Charters
claimed he had been recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency and
must fly to Canada.
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