Con man caught faking his death
A young DJ who became a notorious conman appears to have been busted again, this time for faking his own death.
Dene Broadbelt has built a reputation across Australian as a scam artist, organising fake real estate businesses, posing as a radio personality, DJ and music festival promoter.
Most recently he was reported to have re-appeared in south western Victoria posing as a real estate agent, attending public meetings and even attempting to recruit staff, Fairfax reports.
However, his story appeared to come to an abrupt and tragic end on Wednesday when the industry website Radioinfo received a press release announcing Broadbelt’s untimely death.
"I have to inform everyone of the sad news that Dene Broadbelt, died unexpectedly on Saturday night when he took his own life," it read.
The story announcing the supposed DJ’s death was quickly removed from the site when reports from the town of Timboon indicated he had been spotted alive, and when he appeared to remain active on his social media accounts.
Over the past two years Broadbelt, who has also operated under a series of aliases, has been caught out pretending to film a cancer documentary for Seven, posing as a music festival promoter and a talent scout. He has allegedly used his schemes to acquire cars, property and money from his victims.
The 22-year-old has now vanished again, according to Fairfax.
He has allegedly incurred debts of up to $120,000 during his travels around Australia over the past two years.
