19/11/2012 Inside Out South

Hello from Oxford and welcome to Inside Out. He is what is coming on

tonight. We investigate a serial fraudster who has been posing as

her reality TV producer to target the rich and famous. I can't sleep

at the minute. It has led to a lot of problems. How much more can I

take. We are out and about with the noise patrols cracking down on

student parties in Oxford. It has gone midnight. It is midweek.

People are wanting to go to work in the morning. And born the wrong sex,

we meet some of the people who have taken the radical step of changing

their gender. I can see that life really is worth living because I

feel happier myself. I feel comfortable in my body. This is

First, we live in a world obsessed with celebrity. No surprise it

became the latest stomping ground for an infamous con man. Convinced

big brother contender to take part in a fake reality show and wait for

the backers money to come rolling Reality shows and celebrity

television. For those who take part, a quick step to greater fame and

fortune, the perfect hunting ground for a fraudster on the make. We are

on the trail of a notorious conman who has been back in business using

reality TV to target the rich and famous. This guy claimed the world

and delivered nothing. We find out how these stars opened their hearts

for a reality show that never even existed. How low can someone go to

get footage to convince people that you have your TV show. We uncover

what our fame loving fraudster was really up to behind the scenes.

This is Mario and Lisa. You may recognise them. They shot to fame

money appeared in Big Brother. As the spotlight fell off, the couple

were left looking for a new project. That is when Mr Michael walked into

their lives. He seemed to have it all and was generous with his

wealth. A proud supporter of celebrity back to charity, the five

stars appeal. I met him through a mutual friend who we were doing

some charity work with. He introduced himself as managing

director of World screen group. I thought I had met the Almighty God

of the industry. They threw in their lot with the silver fox who

promised he could relaunch their careers. His famous signature was,

"I will put you through another level." you will have your own

reality show. He was working on an Asian version of Miami Vice. With a

contract signed, they set about filming with him and this is the

Mario and Lisa spent several months filming with him, sharing their

most intimate moments. Filming 18 hours a day, three hours' sleep

sometimes and all this pressure. It was hard work. They even recorded a

single, supposedly for charity. All the hard work seemed to pay off. He

told them a national TV broadcaster had agreed to run the show. He was

proper. We were so excited. cried, thinking we have finally

done it. But there was no deal and the footage ended up as an eight

minute trailer, dumped on the internet. Mario and Lisa were

furious. We left him. We parted. We told him we were leaving and wanted

nothing more to do with him. said we would never work in the

media again. He was horrible. after, the Silver Fox disappeared.

Who was Mr Michael and what did he want with Marianne to Lisa? All was

not what it seemed. This is the Silver Fox 10 years ago. He was

using a different name. He arrived at court to plead guilty to the

large-scale fraud on a large number of small investors. He Ranby

Corporation from offices here Bristol using the latest in a long

line of a Leicester's. -- he ran. His name wasn't the only thing

about him. He was running a Spanish property scam, taking thousands of

pounds from investors and taking it into his pocket. Even then, he was

making friends but celebrities. This is him with Stephanie Beacham

who knew nothing about his camp. What he wanted was the touch of

glamour that celebrity could bring to his own carefully crafted image.

He was very charismatic, he was dressed impeccably. He had dyed

blond hair and a charming manner. I trusted him. Maggie was one of

those who fell for his chums back in the late 1990s. She even ended

up working for the Carmichael Corporation but eventually

discovered it was a friend. crunch of it happened when the

police arrived in the office in Bristol and arrested everybody. I

realised then, oh, my guard, this whole thing has been a lie. I am

entreat -- I am in deep trouble. Malik -- Magee had been duped and

left counting the cost for letting Carmichael into her life.

friends had lost their money, my boyfriend had lost his money, his

family had lost their money. I was devastated. Carmichael was

sentenced to 3 1/2 years. On release, he disappeared. Only for

Sylvan Michael, the Silver Fox to pack -- to crop up as Mario and

Lisa's saviour. We have discovered it is not just these stars he has

been targeting. One celebrity he tried to win over was this man,

He offered to back a new children's TV project for him and tried it to

wine and dine him at a charity gala. He came up to me saying that if

something comes off tonight, could you please tell them I am your

manager. I said, "listen to my eight -- listen to me now. You are

not my manager, you are not my representative, I have only met two

twice. We are not in any business venture or anything like that.".

was clear what he was trying to do. He wanted the friendship and the

contacts, the celebrity contacts and friends that I had so he could

build a roster of celebrity friends that he could use to Le Riche -- to

get in rich and unsuspected victims. We have spoken to several of his

investors. Some part with thousands of pounds hoping to appeal one of

his shows. Now they are too embarrassed to speak out on camera.

Their money, it simply disappeared. Documents released to the BBC by

the High Court show one investor is selling, Kohl and his real name for

the return of more than a �42,000. Even a celebrity charity, the five

stars appeal, was stung by Carmichael. A luxury yacht holiday

failed to materialise, as did a 10,000 pit he made on the same

night. For Mario and Lisa, it has been tough coming to terms with

their fact that their names with used to help scam intelligent

victims. I can't sleep at night. We Raul a lot about it. It has led to

problems and psychological as well. How much can one take? It is only

now that other people are coming forward and telling what he has

done. At the time, they didn't know. I feel sorry for them as well.

Where is Carmichael now? He failed to appear at the High Court two

weeks ago. He is bankrupt but his wife owns this to a �725,000 house

in Buckinghamshire. The car he drives his here but he is not. Just

when we thought he had gone to ground, we found a man who knows

where he is. A bomb was the last time you saw Mr Carmichael? It was

when he was being sentenced to 3 1/2 years' imprisonment for his

money laundering as part of major fraud. It turns out he's more than

just a fame hungry conman. He is part of a major criminal network

whose members try to steal half a million pounds from the Santander

Bank. We have fraud, money- laundering, he is hardly that

person you would trust to make the famous. If more likely penniless.

From what I have seen that, if you have dealings with him, be very

careful. What might be a good and convincing front doesn't bear any

examination in detail. For Mario and Lisa, the news that he is

behind bars comes as a shock. Really? What for? They hope it

marks the end of their journey with the silver fox. Knowing Mr

Carmichael now, he is a compulsive liar, he lives in deluded land and

Next, with his music, culture and museums, it is easy to see why

Oxford is one of the most desirable places to live. Until the sun goes

It is the start of a new term for students across the south, and

there's want them on all their minds - studying. But also party in.

Oxford has more than 32,000 students, making for a lot of late

nights. For some residents, students having fun means one thing

- a lack of sleep. Noise nuisance can make you feel isolated. Is

anyone else having the same problem as you? You question whether it is

just your problem, other people's problems, who it is affecting, and

I'd been silly? It is come the next day. Last year, Oxford City Council

received more than 1,000 complaints about late night parties. To try

and reduce those statistics, they came up with a noise busting plan.

We have got a noisy party, loud music. They call themselves the

party patrol, a �12,000 scheme involving council workers

responding to noisy complaints. I joined them on a Wednesday evening,

and it did not take us long to get Is this your party? Can I have a

word? Come out here. We have had a call about a party, and it is

causing... It is too loud. You need to turn it down, close your windows

and doors, so you do not disturb people, and you need to calm people

down. It is passed at midnight and now, midweek, people want a good

work in the morning. Pipe people are generally polite. They are

willing to do whatever they asked them to do. There is no nor which

says you cannot have a party. This is about trying to balance the

needs of residents with the needs of students. We are trying to

minimise the impact they are having. These patrols come as welcome

relief to residents like Ed Wood, whose family has suffered from

A long a run of unbroken sleep. It feels like water torture. It has to

be broken. You cannot break yourself because you do not want to

be the guy who is threatening people at 1am. You have got to go

through the right channels to do it, and that is the sensible thing to

do. Around here, the council and police are quite geared up their it.

He back at the party patrol, we are responding to a second complaint of

the night. The next door neighbour has come out, they have young

children, and it is keeping them awake. They need quiet now. It is

near one am now. I needed to wind your party up. They have now

contacted us and saying that there is a problem. They have had enough,

OK? Noise nuisance is something both universities and Oxford are

trying to tackle. At Oxford Brookes, big fund to PCSOs, and Lucy liaises

between the university and residents. The full-time university

is stressful. You have deadlines, living away from home, trying to

start your life as an adult by beginning with a stressful Clause.

When students at parties, they are letting their hair down. They are

living this sense of freedom they have. What they have not thought

about, the reasons why their parents asked them to turn the

music down. They just haven't got far enough along been living in the

community to learn these things. Now, they have to try and build up

this knowledge base as to how to live in a community. It is 2am, and

a fifth Corps of the night. Local residents out on the streets..

have a lot of people in there are, haven't you? We made repeated

appeals for them to turn the music down and not to bring it out.

Normally... It is a Wednesday, man! They are too frightened to come out,

I do not know why it is always meal the neighbour. On a road like this,

lots of houses have young people, students in. What used to be quite

a quiet residential street is now a buzzing centre for young people and

students, and inevitably, parties break out. I think it is game over

for this one. We have asked them to wind the party up. A lot of the

students have left. It is just the stragglers. A lot of people coming

out of their house. Looks like it was quite a big party. I was not

counting the students, but there seemed to be a lot. His early

stages in the initiative, but for some, it is leading to a good night

sleep. There was a party next door. It was allowed. After midnight, we

thought it was time for them to turn it down and leave. A person

holding the party did not have much control over it. We went to phone

the environmental health and party patrols, and turned up before we

had a chance to dull the number. Within 15 minutes, the place was

empty acquired. I was impressed. It can be isolated. But you have to

report it. In July, Oxford University changed

its rules as to how students should dress. It was in response to

concerns that its rules were unfair to transit agenda students. Now,

men can wear skirts and women can wear suits. It all goes to show the

South's transfer gender community We might tend to think of the world

as male or female, goal boy. But there are people who are in between,

and some who want to become the other. Those who were born male,

who do not identify with it. Life is unbearable not to live as

Michelle. And vice versa, for people born female. I was pretty

much a classic a tomboy. I did not like wearing dresses. I through

massive tantrums about having to wear anything female. But life can

be tough. There is a myth, worry. Based upon that ignorance, there is

a fear and hostility. Gen dir dysphoria is a medical term. Some

people say they feel trapped in the wrong body, and for many, the pain

Michelle was born male, but it was an identity she did not recognise.

I have known that there was something different about me since

I was five or six years old. I did not know what it was back then. As

I grew up, I started to realise. I liked to wear women's clothes and

wanted to where gender. But it is so unacceptable to do that that I

try to live a male role - I had a son, tried to get married. It is

such a dark time there. I could not do it any more. I had to change my

agenda. I lost most of my friends. I had quarrels of my family. Very

difficult time, psychologically as well as physically. Experts say

changing your gender can mean a widespread discrimination, and that

life for her people can be worse than we might think. Rafael Fox was

born a female, but always felt he should have been a boy. What was

going through my mind was unhappiness. I felt uncomfortable

with myself, he I could not do all the normal things a wanted to do.

As a child, six years old or whatever, my family would go up to

the local supermarket and I would make friends. Me and the guys would

hang out. I had my hair cut really short, so why don't think they

recognised I was female. At the end of the played eight, they would say,

what's your name? I would be, like, Rachel. They gave me away. I felt

embarrassed. It is so odd to look back and think that I really was a

time had be an uncomfortable MI and body. Raphael decided to transition

by taking hormones and having surgery to be closer to the agenda

he felt he should have been. Bernard read set up a charity to

research gender identity, and has spent the past 15 years studying it.

So side he needs to be more aware that trams agenda people have a

natural condition, which is to say that in their brains, from the very

earliest time, they are pre- programmed to have a sense of

gender which differs from dead bodies. Many of them repress this.

But they can't do so completely because the feeling is very intense.

And while oppressing those feelings can be hard, telling your own

family can be even more difficult. Ryan was born a girl, but lost

contact with his mother after she found out. I have not spoken to my

mother in newly two years. I understand that it is difficult for

parents. They do not believe that I am the person they brought up. It

is quite difficult to relate to that one man been told I'm not that

person any more. Some experts say the isolation and rejection people

face can have a serious impact on mental health. Dr Catherine Johnson

is a gender identity expert. She says the reasons for this are

complex. A mental health, generally, has to do with the social

circumstances in which we find ourselves. Depression is often a

response to the environment in which we are in. Trams people,

because of levels of discrimination, because of issues like not passed -

- passing as male female, affecting employment, poverty and so on, can

therefore increase the likelihood of having a mental health problem.

The outside world can be a scary place for Trans people. Feeling

comfortable on the street is some think most of us take for granted,

but even in a tolerant place like Brighton, there are no-go areas for

Michelle. There are certain areas I do not go by myself up. A D Phil

about that? I feel it is very unfair. We are happens? People

shout insults. It just makes me feel as if I am unsafe. What about

in terms of violence? A bit further down the road here, I was attacked

by someone. They pulled my hair, kicked and punched me. It was a

very bad attack. According to official figures, over the past

four years, they have been fortified incidence of Trans gender

hate crime in Sussex. They are also problems in the workplace. Despite

laws to prevent discrimination, there are lots of examples that it

is happening. For a Trans woman, in a large office, was asked to turn

her desk so that she faced the wall, so the rest of the people could not

see her face. In another situation, somebody in a work situation

discovered that a person was Trans and said, unless you provide sexual

favours for me, I will out you in the workplace. Michelle was made

redundant from her job in IT after she transition to. Unable to find

employment, she set up her own company. The interviewer would

refuse to shake my hand. I have also had other interviews where, as

soon as I have walked in, they have said, I am not suitable for the

position. Without even interviewing you? Were that even interviewing

the. The challenges people face in Brighton are the same up and down

the country. By work is taking place to tackle discrimination and

prejudice. There have been challenges and the past, but they

are there to overcome. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We

don't want to be treated specially. I am hoping everyone will be more

accepting of us. Raphael says changing his gender has made him

happier than he has ever been. was a do-or-die situation. I really

wanted to live, to experience what everyone else seems to be enjoying.

I felt like I had missed the point end life. Finally, I can see life