05/11/2012 Inside Out West

Hello from the seafront at Portishead. On the programme

tonight: We are investigating a serial

fraudster who's been posing as a reality TV producer to target the

rich and the famous. This guy claimed the world undelivered

absolutely nothing. Also tonight: With Bristol about to

choose its first ever directly elected mayor, we hear from someone

who knows what they're getting themselves in for. You have to

think in terms of what is best for the City over 10 or 20 years, not

just about getting elected. And it's been dark for just over a

year, so will the Black Nore Lighthouse at Portishead get its

light back? I'm Alastair McKee and this is

Reality shows and celebrity TV. For those who take part, a quick step

to greater fame and fortune, the perfect hunting ground them for a

fraud stuck on the make. We are on the trail of the notorious conman

who has been backing business using reality TV to target the rich and

famous. This cut -- this guy claimed the world and delivered

nothing. We find out how these big Brother stars open their hearts for

a reality show that never even existed. That bloke got footage to

convince people that you have a TV show. And we uncover what the

fraudster was really up to behind the scenes.

This is Mario Marconi and Lisa Appleton. You may recognise them,

they shot to fame when they appeared in series nine of Big

Brother. As the spotlight fell off them, they were left looking for a

new project. That is when self- styled Silva Michael walked into

their lives. A man who like to be known as the Silver Fox. He seemed

to have it all and was generous with his wealth, and proud

supporter of celebrity back to charity the Five Stars Appeal.

met Silva through a mutual friend that he was doing charity work with

at the time. He introduced himself as president producer, managing

director Silva of WorldScreen Group. I thought I had met the Almighty

God of the industry. So Mariya and Lisa threw in their lot with the

silver fox who promised he could relaunch their career. He was

famous so his signature was that he would catapult you to another bleak.

He was working on a series called Bombay Vice, the equivalent of

Miami Vice. And the Amazon jungle. With the contract signed, the pair

set about filming with Silva and this is the result. Let's have a

Mariya and Lisa spent several months filming with Silva sharing

some of their most intimate moments. Filming 18 hours per day, two or

three hours' sleep sometimes and all of this pressure. It was hard

work. They even recorded a single All the hard work seemed to pay off.

Silva told them a TV broadcaster had agreed to run their show.

were proper like, so excited. cried, didn't we? We thought we had

finally done it, got our own show. But there was no deal and the

footage ended up as an eight minute train load dumped on the internet.

Mario and Lisa were furious. left, we parted. We gave formal

notice that we were leaving him and WorldScreen. He said you will never

work in the media again. He was really horrible. Soon after, the

Silver Fox this appeared. So, who was silver Carmichael and what did

he want with Mario and Lisa? All was not what it seemed. But this is

the Silver Fox 10 years ago and using a different name. Selva

Carmichael arrived at court to plead guilty at a large scale fraud.

He ran the Carmichael Corporation from offices in Bristol using the

latest in a long line of aliases. His name was not the only fake

thing about him. Carmichael was running a Spanish property scam

taking thousands of pounds from investors and putting it straight

into his pocket. Even then he was making friends with celebrities.

This is Carmichael with Stephanie Beacham, he knew nothing about his

scam. 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 in Armani suits, he had dyed blond hair and a

charming manner. I just trusted him. Maggie Haines was one of the

investors who fell for his chance in the 1990s. If she even ended up

working for the Carmichael Corporation until she found out it

was a front. The crunch of it happened when the police arrived in

the office and arrested everybody. I realise then, I'll my God. This

whole thing has been a lie and I am in deep trouble. Maggie had been

duped and left counting the cost of letting Carmichael into her life.

My friends had lost their money, my boy friend lost his money, his

family lost their money, my best friend lost their money. I was

devastated. Carmichael was eventually sentenced to three and a

half years. On release, Selva Carmichael disappeared only for

Silva Michael the Silver Fox to pop up last year as Mario and Lisa's TV

saviour. We have discovered it is not as big Brother stars he

targeted. One celebrity who tried to win over was this man, former X

Factor contestant Chico. Carmichael offered to back the new

children's TV project for Chico and tried to wine and dine him at a

charity gala. He came up to me and said, I want to say, if something

comes off tonight, Business Wise, could you say I am your manager. I

said, listen to me, let me tell you one thing, you are not my manager,

I have only met she twice and you and I are not into no business

venture or anything like that. Chico, it was clear what Carmichael

was trying to do. What he wanted from me was the friendship and the

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

build a roster of celebrity friends that he can use to me or rich and

unsuspecting victims. Victims who Carmichael convinced to invest in

WorldScreen Group. We have spoken to several of his investors, some

parted with tens of thousands of pounds hoping to appear on a show,

but now they are too embarrassed to speak on camera. Their money, it

simply disappear. Documents released to the BBC show one

investor is suing Carmichael under his real name for the return of

more than �42,000. Even the celebrity charity the Five

Stars Appeal was stung by Carmichael. A �23,000 luxury yacht

holiday he promise for a charity auction failed to materialise, as

did a �10,000 bid he made on the same night. For Mario and Lisa, it

has been tough coming to terms with the fact their names were used to

help scum innocent victims. I can't sleep at the minute still. We argue

a lot about it because it has led to a lot of problems. It so in now

that other people come forward and say he has done this and that. At

the time we didn't know and they are saying that they feel sorry for

them as well. So, where is he now? He failed to appear in court two

weeks ago. Carmichael is bankrupt, but his wife owns this house in

Buckinghamshire. The car he drives his here, but he is not. Just as we

thought he had gone to ground, we found one man who knows exactly

where he is. For when was the last time you saw

Selva Carmichael? When he was being sentenced to three and a half years

in prison for his money laundering and major fraud. It turns out he is

more than the fame hungry con man, he is part of the major criminal

network whose members try to steal more than half a million pounds

from the Santander Bank. So we have fraud, money laundering,

he is hardly the person you would trust to make you famous? More

likely penniless. From what I have seen, if you have done any dealings

with Selva Carmichael, be very careful because what might be a

good and convincing front doesn't bear any examination in detail.

Mariya 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 Selva Carmichael now, he is a compulsive

liar, he lives in deluded land and Next week, the people of Bristol

head to the polls to choose the city's first directly elected mayor.

Does anyone know exactly what they are voting for? Our reporter has

The people of Bristol what a new champion. I want them to listen. To

really listen. I want them to exploit the potential of the city

and deliver a lasting legacy. Someone who will go the distance

for this city. You have to think in terms of what is best for the City

over 10 or 20 years, not just the immediate future. What does it take

to even step into the ring? I think the elected mayor really has to

represent all the people of the city. If let alone win the fight?

Press will is a city of over 400,000 people. It is England's

eighth biggest. It has its own special character and now, those

that live within the boundaries are going to vote for a new mayor. That

mayor will be responsible for the day-to-day running of Bristol, but

will also be its figurehead on a national stage. So what is the job

of mayor? Did you see the advert in the paper? Actually, there was not

one. What about the job description? There isn't one. What

we do know is that the elected mayor will replace the current

council leader here. They will set major policies in areas like

transport, housing, culture and regeneration. What they cannot do

is grant planning permission, so a new arena were football stadium,

the mayor could back them but not enact them. And also education. The

mayor alone may have limited powers here. There's often talk of Bristol

being a city that does not punch its weight. So what do people want?

I belong here. It has the expertise of aerospace and the colourful air

balloons that flowed across the sky. This man is a performance poet to

Kohl's Bristol home and mostly loves it. It is a great city. It

has a good record for recycling, the environment, business. He wants

the Meyer to bring about one major change in the city. -- the mayor.

And I believe the wealth of Bristol is still based on the transatlantic

slave trade and the money they made from there, which is more fast on

the computer industry today. I would like to see a legacy left.

When people visit Bristol and say to the people that live here, what

have you done as a reaction to the legacy that the slaves have left

Bristol and what have you done to appease the sons and daughters of

those former slaves? I belong right here. The city's history ships at

and helps make it what it is and gives it clues about his future.

This man has seen a few things on the harbourside. As Parrott beat,

he teaches locals and visitors about what Bristol used to be like.

I am old school. I've was born in the cathedral in the war. I see

Bristol as trams, smoke, smells from the brewery. Peter thinks it

is the old pioneering a can-do spirit that is needed to get

Bristol going. Bristol has fiercely independent. Men could not stop us

getting on a ship and finding a colony. We had that spirit. That is

what we need to get back into Bristol. You go to these committee

meetings and after 30 minutes, you go to sleep. You know what the

answer will be. We need somebody decisive who will put down a policy

and steamrollered through. Bristol is not the first place to get an

elected to mayor. It is the 17th. Across the country, elected mayors

have called the shots since London went first in the year 2000. As I

was saying before I was so rudely interrupted 14 years ago...

Livingstone made history as Britain's first directly-elected

mayor and went on to serve two terms. If someone can give us

insight and advice, maybe it is famous. I had a wonderful time. I

had hit Mach years, returns London round, rebuilt the police service,

the bus service, got all bunch of projects going. It is a great job

to have. What kind of things make a good mayor? What characteristics

would somebody need? You need to be honest or would you be in trouble.

-- you will be in trouble. Can you get investment in from outside? Can

you get firms to bring jobs? That sort of ambition would surely take

a strong character. Political analysts are watching Bristol

closely to see if the new mayor will be someone who can do deals

with the big movers and shakers, gain extra powers and money in

order to get things done. I do not think all politicians who are

mayors in big cities have to be mega personalities. London is

slightly misleading. We have other cities in Britain and elsewhere in

the world where there are mayor 3D who are not as well-known as the

Mayor of London and not as bigger personality, but they can be

perfectly good SVRs mayors and be good for the cities. So many things

will go wrong. So many pressures will come on them that if you bend

with every little breeze that is coming, you will never get anything

done. In the end, they have to be seen to work for the whole city, to

speak for the City when things go wrong and go right, and we have

seen it with Boris Johnson with the Olympics. I don't think anybody

really thought he was a Conservative politician, just the

Mayor of London. Boris Johnson, mayor of the moment. His profile is

high, but so is his capacity to climb round. Here at City Hall,

Boris Johnson and his team are working the way to keep London

running. For the London mayor, it is often about the big landmark

projects, those schemes that are impressive that everybody notices.

The Bristol mayor will be more about the everyday, the care homes,

the meals on wheels, the picking up of the bins. Were the potential

Bristol mayor, it is as much about the graft as the glamour. And there

is lots of hard work to do. Cuts to be made straight away, plans to

throw in the bin, as the new mayor has to learn quickly. So, what will

be the winning candidates lock-out punch? -- knockout punch? Clean

streets, decent public services. What do they need to flower the

opponents? Before you speak and before the act, really listen to

what people want. Let's sit down and say, this is what I'm going to

do and this is how we will do it. In the end, there can only be one

winner. So to be a crystal mayor, he needs to be tough and determined,

you need a clear vision of what the City wants to be, where it is going

and how it will get there. Do you need policies? Yes, of course, but

hopefully, you will have a bit of personality, too. It is a tough job,

but someone has got to do it. He will fit the bill? If you have a

You can find out more about the Bristol mayor elections, including

a mini manifesto of every candidate, on our website. And there is a

special debate, not on Radio -- In our final film tonight, we tell

the story of the Black Nore lighthouse. For more than 100 years,

it guided sailors safely into Portishead. But last year, the

light went out. So our history man This is the Black Nore lighthouse

near Portishead. In September 2011, its light was turned off and this

little lighthouse was scheduled for demolition. I am taking a rare

opportunity to have a look inside this unique structure. What gave

you! You can see the whole of the Bristol Channel. The ship's going

by, it is amazing. But there is something missing. Where is the

optic? Where is the light? Of the future was looking bleak for this

lighthouse with no light. Happily, it got local supporters like Bill

and Tony interested. We have grown very attached to it. We would not

want to lose it. Any sailor that got by fear would feel a great

sense of relief and then a great sense of anticipation at meeting

loved ones and friends. Got by Sheila. -- got by fear. When

Trinity house decided to decommission it, what were they

going to do with it? They would have to demolish it, because it is

in a charter to divide navigation aids. Not to protect monuments.

They had to take it off the books. They were going to demolish it

until we offered to take it on and buy it and stick responsibility for

it. It has turned out to be quite an undertaking! Bill and Tony

stepped in to save the lighthouse. They formed a trust and bought it

for just �1. It's but they will need to raise thousands of pounds

every year to pay for maintenance and insurance. Black Nore

lighthouse was completed in 1894 and three generations of a local

family were responsible for running it. This was the Ashford Farm. The

main family lived in this part. a teenager, wronged used to help

the Ashford's keep the light turning. The actual mechanism

inside was clockwork and it had to be wound up every day. At the

bottom of the lighthouse was where the gas storage tanks were kept.

1940, the gaslight was converted to electricity. The symmetrical

systems were donated back into the farmhouse, so we could can switch

it on and off. -- the electrical systems. This was important in the

wartime, because when the air raids went, the light has had to be

switched off. -- lighthouse. lighthouse survive the war intact

and the trust has saved it from demolition. But it is still missing

its glowing heart. Trinity house removed the optic last year. The

trust would dearly love to have it back. I have come to the Trinity

house depot near Swansea where there are massive boys and bits of

old lighthouse, all here to get spruced up. Somewhere round here is

the bit of old lighthouse I am looking for. This is the light from

the Black Nore lighthouse? It is a marvellous piece of Victorian

engineering. This rotates and that standstill. That is extraordinary.

Can be getting? You could open it up so you could serve as it. --

service it. That is fantastic! High, it is here? Surely the Bristol

Channel is filled with ships that has not got a lighthouse? With

modern electronics, ships are reliant much more on G Ps and

electronic navigation. Lighthouses take much more secondary roles.

Normally, she would just say that is great, let's take whatever we

need and locket down. And that is as far as we got when we got the

lens out. But then, the Black Nore lighthouse Trust stepped in and

said they did like to preserve it. If we ever need a service use for

it, we can take the lens back. trust agreed a 10 year alone. But

even when it is back in place, the lighthouse may have to remain in

the dark. It would have to be a registered navigation light of the

did turn it back on. Then, if a ship were to go aground because the

light burned out, there would be a big liability involved. You were

not insured to be a lighthouse! Correct. Finally, the optic is

almost home. The Trinity house engineers have faced an unusual

challenge. The first job is to disassemble the unit. Hopefully,

without damaging anything. It is a priceless unit. I am just glad I

have the opportunity to put it back It is exciting, isn't it? It feels

like it is coming back to where it That is it. Last piece going in.

That looks like a lot of hard work! To mark the occasion, there is a

celebration at the Yacht Club, where special guest Julia Elton, an

expert in lice ties optics is here. -- lighthouse optics. The hall like

deer about it is that you take all the light that comes out of the

light source and is just diffuse, and she direct delight through the

prisons so they come out intensely through the lens and the view that

we would like ball behind it, you know you can see the intense beams

for the denials. It is a miracle. This is a fairly limited miracle.

The land has looked for just a few celebratory hours. But it

symbolises everything Bill and the trust have been working towards.

Black Nore lighthouse looks like a proper lighthouse again. This

little light house has seen over 100 years of service, but sadly, it

has now been decommissioned. But thanks to the hard work of the

trust, it will hopefully act as a landmark for mariners for many

Well, that is just about it for this week. But before we go, a

quick update on an investigation we did last year.

School governors at Ashcombe Primary school in Weston Supermare

were so outraged by its poor condition, they sneaked our cameras

in. Now, the council plans to spend �5 million pounds on a brand new

school. And if you want to keep in touch

with developments on other stories coming up on Inside Out West, why

Next week We go undercover to investigate the