00:00At first light, four-wheel drives were called in to recover Mr. Friedrich's body.
00:10He had been lying face down with a gunshot wound to the head, a pistol a short distance from him.
00:15A court hearing into charges against Mr. Friedrich was set to begin on Thursday.
00:20Suicide's a result of a deep depression and at no time did I determine that this man had been depressed.
00:29I don't believe for a minute that John would ever shoot himself. He wasn't that kind of person.
00:34And you know the sort of person that will shoot themselves. I mean, I don't believe for a minute that John would do that.
00:41John Friedrich is almost forgotten. A leader and a hero, he built a rescue organisation envied around the world.
00:49He was also a criminal mastermind who seduced governments and shook the Australian banking system.
00:56John was a driven man, quite a powerful person. I've never known anyone that when he walks into a room, he'll command the room.
01:05He was able to just get anyone on side and get his story across to anybody. It was quite remarkable.
01:11He would sell ice to Eskimos and the Eskimos would come back from war.
01:14If John suggested we were going to do something, it generally happened.
01:17I don't think he should be seen as being a con man, a competence trickster. He certainly, there was no issue of demonic motive.
01:25John Friedrich came and went as he pleased various defence establishments and seemed to operate in and out of them as though he owned them.
01:33There was a group of questions that he never answered. And that was a baby's identity, where he'd come from and his early life.
01:42If I say I am John Friedrich, you don't believe me. If I say I'm not John Friedrich, you don't believe me.
01:48That's all you've got to say. You've got to take what you say.
01:51Less than an hour ago, the Corporate Affairs Department issued an alert to all airports and seaports
01:56to be on the lookout for John Friedrich, who resigned yesterday as the council's chief executive.
02:01There was a large sum of money missing. Quote one of the detectives that was bigger than Texas.
02:06When it was first reported to the police, the amount believed which was obtained was about $40 million.
02:14Ultimately, we reached $300 million and pretty well stopped.
02:20The organisation was principally financed by borrowing on non-existing assets.
02:25So you'd go to a bank or a financial institution?
02:28No? No campaigns.
02:31When we used to walk to court up Russell Street, people who recognised him would cheer.
02:38They saw John as a guy who had taken money from the banks, spent it in an area where people got jobs, work
02:46and strangely, in some borders of the community, treated a bit like a Robin Hood.
02:52They had a fair amount of resources. They had highly intelligent people.
02:56They had paramilitary training.
02:59It was a private, not-for-profit organisation. And our charter was to rescue people.
03:05That was what we were there to do.
03:07We did a job once at Pine Gap, which is a US top-secret facility.
03:11We were cleared in to go and do this job, provide helicopters and provide a service.
03:16And what about the claims that you have intelligence connections? The CIA, for instance?
03:21It would be nice, wouldn't it?
03:23Would it? I don't know.
03:25Oh, well, then you wouldn't have to chase people to pay your bills, would you?
03:28remove all the frauds, wouldn't you?
03:29Even but it didn't lose, it didn't lose.
03:30The CIA is very bright.
03:41Save people completamente and they can't stop them lovin'
Comments