87 Facts About Peter Foster

Peter Clarence Foster was born on 26 September 1962 and is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, United Kingdom, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justice.

Peter Foster has described himself as an "international man of mischief".

Peter Foster began marketing and selling products at 19 years of age.

At 20, Peter Foster was fined by an Australian court for attempting to make a fraudulent insurance claim when a boxing match he was promoting fell through.

Peter Foster was declared bankrupt after promoting an Ali bout in Australia that did not eventuate and marketing a method for quitting smoking.

Peter Foster was known for his relationship with model Samantha Fox, whom he hired to promote his weight loss tea.

Muhammad Ali's third wife, model Veronica Ali, introduced him to Bai Lin tea, which Peter Foster went on to market in Australia as an "ancient Chinese diet secret" for weight loss.

However, Peter Foster fled Britain to the United States where he remarketed it as Chow Low Tea.

Peter Foster was arrested in Australia on a British extradition warrant, but absconded on bail to be rearrested in February 1998.

Peter Foster spent over 18 months in prison in Brisbane fighting extradition, claiming his life would be at risk if he returned because he was an informant against corrupt prison officers.

Peter Foster was returned to Britain and imprisoned in 2000 for a further 33 months at St Albans Crown Court for using fraudulent documents to obtain credit for a company, Foremost Body Corporation, that sold thigh-reduction cream.

Peter Foster undertook undercover work for the Australian Federal Police in 1993 and 1997, wearing listening devices in meetings with known criminals as part of investigations into the trafficking of illicit drugs.

Peter Foster said in an interview that he was influenced to take part by the effect his sister's longstanding drug addiction had on his family, and that he had always been against drugs.

In 2001, in the wake of the 2000 Fijian coup d'etat, Peter Foster invested over F$1 million in the New Labour Unity Party, a breakaway group from the Fiji Labour Party.

Peter Foster became 2001 Fijian general election campaign director for Tupeni Baba, the former deputy prime minister, whom Foster described as the "Nelson Mandela of the South Pacific".

Peter Foster was investigated by the UK Department of Trade and Industry in 2002 for effectively acting as the managing director of slimming pill business Renuelle, despite being barred for five years in 2000 from holding company directorships.

The controversy involving Cherie Blair occurred when it was revealed that Peter Foster had assisted the wife of the then prime minister, Tony Blair, with the purchase of two flats in Bristol at a discount.

The transaction came to light after Peter Foster claimed that Walsh had threatened to expose the link with the Blairs unless he was returned the money he had invested.

The Daily Mail newspaper provided email evidence to the contrary; in one email between Blair and Foster she described him as "a star" and said, "we are on the same wave length, Peter".

Peter Foster told the media that Cherie and Tony Blair at one time agreed to be godparents to the yet-to-be born child of Peter Foster and his partner Carole Caplin, who later miscarried.

Peter Foster said that he celebrated Christmas with the Blair family and was a guest at 10 Downing Street on the night of his 40th birthday Blair declared in her apology she had only met him once, for less than five minutes.

Peter Foster later acknowledged that apart from one brief meeting, he had only spoken with her by phone three times and corresponded with her by email.

Peter Foster acknowledged Blair had not attempted to influence his deportation order from the UK.

Peter Foster was covertly recorded by The Sun newspaper coaching his mother to speak to the media about a visit to 10 Downing Street on his birthday that never took place.

Peter Foster later claimed, on his 2004 ABC TV Enough Rope appearance, that he believed his partner was pregnant with Tony Blair's child, the product of a long-standing extramarital affair.

Peter Foster is just a fantasist and these absurd stories shouldn't be given any credibility.

Peter Foster dropped his plans to fight the deportation order in the weeks following the Blair scandal and moved to Ireland.

Peter Foster was deported from the Republic of Ireland to Australia in 2003 because of his 1996 UK conviction for fraud.

Peter Foster was banned for five years from being involved directly or indirectly in any cosmetic, health industry-related or weight-loss business.

Peter Foster announced that he was planning to make a motion picture out of his career provided his original publishers released him from their agreement.

In 2003, Peter Foster complained to the Australian Press Council about articles that appeared in The Courier-Mail on 10,11 and 12 March.

Peter Foster complained that the articles said he had "fleeced" or "duped" investors.

The Press Council noted that Peter Foster had himself offered evidence of convictions dating back to 1982, resulting in a substantial fine and four separate periods of imprisonment.

Peter Foster made a separate complaint about an article in The Sydney Morning Herald of 22 August 2003 which had referred to him as a "fraudster".

Peter Foster challenged the use of the word using the definition of fraud in the Macquarie Dictionary, but the Press Council found that the word "fraudster" had been used accurately and dismissed his complaint.

Peter Foster appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation interview program Enough Rope in 2004.

Peter Foster denied he was a fraudster, claiming, "I've never stolen a cent in my life" and that he does not lie.

Denton commented that lying is not a habit for white collar criminals, but a business, and that Peter Foster is "ultimately in the business of selling himself".

Peter Foster said he was ashamed of his conman title and "only a fool would enjoy the publicity I get".

Late 2005, Peter Foster returned to Fiji, gaining entry to the country and obtaining a work permit using a forged police clearance certificate to conceal his criminal record.

Peter Foster reportedly gained a lease on waterfront property at Champagne Beach, in the Yasawa Islands, and sought investors to develop a resort.

Peter Foster had again involved himself in local politics, offering financial support to the ruling SDL party for the successful 2006 re-election.

Peter Foster approached the military and offered to covertly obtain evidence that the Qarase regime had been corrupt.

Peter Foster suggested that the conversation recorded on video could have been staged, and another official suggested the recording had been "spliced".

In October 2006, Fijian police rejected Peter Foster's offer to leave the country if they dropped immigration violation charges over the use of forged documents.

Peter Foster claimed police had assaulted him and went on a hunger strike in hospital demanding the police investigate the brutality of his arrest.

Peter Foster's doctor remarked that the injuries were consistent with having hit his head on the boat, in accord with the police account.

Peter Foster pleaded not guilty in Suva Magistrates Court on charges of forgery, uttering forged documents and obtaining a work permit on forged documents and bailed.

Peter Foster was questioned over obtaining loans from the Federated States of Micronesia using lease documents from Fiji and impersonating a rival developer to discredit a resort development at Champagne Beach.

Peter Foster tendered an affidavit by former Australian Federal Police officer, Ian Eriksson, that he had worked as an informant for the AFP during the 1990s.

However, AFP investigations showed that Peter Foster was actually on his way to Vanuatu, deceiving police and the media by using a satellite phone.

Peter Foster had skipped bail while under house arrest in Fiji and entered Vanuatu by boat.

Peter Foster was arrested for illegal entry to the country.

Peter Foster was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment, the sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest and he was fined 120,000 vatu.

Peter Foster reached a deal with the Vanuatu government and was deported to Australia, in spite of being wanted for separate fraud charges in Fiji and Micronesia.

Peter Foster had transferred some of the funds illegally into Australian bank accounts.

Peter Foster claimed that he had taken out the loan to develop a tourist resort on Yasawa Island, but the court found he had transferred funds from the loan account to pay his girlfriend's rent on her Gold Coast home, repay credit card debts and channel funds into family related businesses.

Peter Foster was released on parole at the start of May 2009 after serving eighteen months of a four-and-a-half-year sentence.

In May 2009, Peter Foster began civil proceedings for damages against Associated Newspapers and a former lawyer.

Peter Foster was released on A$125,000 bail in December 2011.

The judge noted that Peter Foster had complied with bail conditions since being released in 2009, was close to his sick mother and that she would benefit from him looking after her.

Peter Foster denied creating the table and claimed that the nickname referred to a former business partner.

Peter Foster was charged with contempt of court for breaching the 2005 Federal Court order banning him from taking part in the weight-loss industry.

In January 2012, Peter Foster took out a restraining order against a Gold Coast sports betting scheme proprietor, Philip Cropper, under the Peace and Good Behaviour Act.

Peter Foster's solicitor asked the magistrate to regard a summons as having been served after having difficulties serving it, but the magistrate urged that further attempts should be made.

Peter Foster was sentenced to three years imprisonment but failed to appear and was sentenced in absentia.

Peter Foster claimed he would be provided with a Fiji protection visa if he could get an outstanding arrest warrant lifted.

Peter Foster sent photos of himself holding a Fijian national news broadsheet to a Sydney newspaper to give the impression that he had fled to Fiji.

Peter Foster issued an appeal against the jail sentence for contempt while in hiding.

Later it was found Peter Foster had falsely purported to have been in Fiji from the time he absconded until his arrest in October 2014.

Peter Foster was arrested near Byron Bay in New South Wales on 28 October 2014.

Peter Foster pleaded guilty to assaulting police and resisting arrest during the raid and was extradited to Queensland to serve a minimum of 18 months for the contempt of court conviction.

Peter Foster was owned by a Hong Kong company under his niece, Arabella Foster's, name.

Peter Foster was granted conditional early release six months before the end of his sentence in October 2015.

In December 2015 it was reported that Peter Foster had forged the signature of a Queensland Justice of the peace on a sworn affidavit.

In December 2015 Australian police began investigating allegations that Peter Foster had tried to hire a hitman to kill private investigator Ken Gamble.

In May 2016 Peter Foster was fined AU$660,000 and permanently banned from being a company director or having any business in the diet or health industry as a result of his involvement in SensaSlim.

Peter Foster was behind the invention of a non-existent Swiss research institute, Institut de Recherche Intercontinental, which it was falsely claimed was conducting a large worldwide trial into the efficacy of SensaSlim.

The mare had been bought from Ciaron Maher Racing in 2014 for A$280,000 with money from Peter Foster's failed online betting company Sports Trading Company.

Peter Foster did not declare that he was formerly known as Matthew Thomas Reed and has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in 2007 for smuggling cocaine and ecstasy tablets worth A$211 million into Queensland from British Columbia.

On 10 February 2017, Peter Foster was arrested on the Gold Coast for "fraud related issues".

Peter Foster was then extradited to New South Wales over his alleged involvement in a 2013 sports betting scam.

In February 2018 a Brisbane magistrate ordered Peter Foster to testify in the murder case against John Chardon, who was accused of murdering his wife, Novy Chardon.

Peter Foster claimed that John Chardon had confessed to shooting Novy in the back because she planned to divorce him.

In May 2018 Peter Foster claimed that John Chardon had confessed to shooting his wife and weighing down her body to dispose of it by allowing the outgoing tide to pull it out into Southport Seaway.

On 20 August 2020, Peter Foster was arrested in Port Douglas on alleged links to an international sports trading scam.

On 7 December 2021 Peter Foster was again arrested in Victoria.