ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A Betoota Grove man child is staring down the prospect of having to do something with his life today after his parents were scammed out of millions of dollars by some guy overseas.
Late last year, 35-year-old Reece Beauden moved back to the family home from the apartment his parents helped him buy because the increased interest rate was eating into his bottom line to the point where he couldn’t do the things he wanted to do.
His father, Laurie, told The Advocate that his son’s job required a lot of patience.
“Right now, it sounds like his job is waiting for me to die,” said Laurie.
“Little does he know what’s happened.”
Laurie and wife Reeba are currently locked in a legal battle with their bank, who seemingly allowed Laurie to transfer millions and millions of dollars into a fake crypto currency exchange. Laurie was under the impression he was buying Bitcoin over the past year.
When he decided to sell some and withdraw the cash this week, the exchange went cold and it was later revealed to be fraudulent. Laurie had been sending money to a bank account in Latvia.
“The bank they feel for me but they’re not the Smith Family,” he said.
“My bank manager looked me in the eye and said if I wasn’t such a silly old c**t, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Laurie and Reeba’s wealth was generated by Laurie inheriting land in a light industrial part of the French Quarter that was rezoned by the Shire Council in 1989. They immediately sold the land for nearly $2m and have been spending it ever since.
“We are going to have to sell the house to pay the legal fees for this court battle. The lawyers say our chances of winning are pretty good. If we don’t win and we have to pay costs, we’ll be left with nothing.”
Reece was informed of the theft earlier today and he spoke to The Advocate once he calmed down.
“Those motherfuckers have cheated me out of my inheritance,” he said.
“What am I supposed to do? Work until I’m 50 like some mouth-breathing serf? You can’t imagine how much I was hanging out for this. I’d already spent it in my head. My future is in ruins and it’s all my parents fault. How could they be so dumb?!”
“I have no formal qualifications. Oh my god, I’m going to have to go into real estate.”
More to come.
