In SBS’s two-part documentary Australia’s Greatest Conman?, journalist and presenter Marc Fennell sets out to uncover the truth behind the man who deceived a nation.
In the 1980s, John Friedrich led an elite sea and land rescue squad out of Victoria, winning an Order of Australia, top-secret government contracts, and hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. But no one knew that John Friedrich was not who he made out to be, and his undoing revealed one of the most audacious scams in Australian history – an estimated $900 million in today’s value.
With exclusive interviews with Kerry O’Brien, Hugh Riminton, and Richard Fidler, as well as Friedrich’s closest colleagues and fiercest rivals, Fennell reveals a story stranger than fiction in this gripping true-crime thriller that will keep audiences guessing until the very end.
Australia’s Greatest Conman? is an in-house production for SBS, directed by Corrin Grant and produced by Fennell, with Una Butorac executive producing and Dean Broche serving as DOP and editor.
It will premiere Tuesday, February 24 at 8.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand, with the second and final episode airing Wednesday, February 25 at 8.30pm.
SBS German will launch an accompanying podcast, Der Fall John Friedrich (The Case of John Friedrich), on Monday, March 2.