Australian private eye takes on Versace empire

By KATHY MARKS

SYDNEY - The family of the late fashion designer Gianni Versace will lock horns with a flamboyant Australian private detective today in a court case that promises allegations every bit as baroque as Versace's own creations.

Santo Versace, Gianni's brother, has flown to Sydney for the Federal Court lawsuit against Monte, whose former clients include Aristotle Onassis, the Sheikh of Dubai and the Rockefeller clan.

Gianni's sister, Donatella, who has run the fashion empire since he was shot dead on the steps of his Miami mansion in 1997, is expected to testify by video link from Milan.

Santo, Donatella and the House of Versace are suing Monte over an autobiography that makes controversial claims about the circumstances surrounding Gianni's murder.

The book - called The Spying Game, My Extraordinary Life - was to be published in July, but was withdrawn at the last minute by the Australian publishers, Pan Macmillan, after the Versace family began legal action.

The claims cannot be repeated for legal reasons, but they cast doubt on the findings of a lengthy police investigation: that Gianni was shot by Andrew Cunanan, a gay serial killer who committed suicide on a houseboat near Gianni's South Beach home a few days later.

Monte, a colourful figure who describes himself as "the world's most famous private investigator", began touting his conspiracy theories within a few days of the murder.

The Versace family will argue at the week-long hearing that the "false and baseless" claims damage the company's reputation.

They are seeking a court order preventing Monte from repeating them.

The former Sydney policeman has claimed that Gianni Versace hired him a year before he was killed and that they had secret assignations at various locations, including New York's Central Park. The family say the two men never met.

Monte, 56, who divides his time between New York and Sydney, claims to have hobnobbed with the rich and famous around the globe.

He boasts that during his career he has been "shot at, bashed, and had my nose broken and teeth smashed more times than I care to remember".

Among the swashbuckling assignments that Monte recounts are raising a private army to guard the Sheikh of Dubai's oilfields and searching the jungles of Irian Jaya for Michael Rockefeller, heir to a colossal fortune. He also claims to have spied on Jackie Onassis on behalf of her husband.

Monte, who held a lavish launch party for his book in a five-star Sydney restaurant 10 years ago, before he had even set pen to paper, admitted at the weekend that the book contained some "poetic licence".

But he said that he stood by every word of it and was looking forward to taking on the Versace family, promising sensational allegations once he stepped into the witness box.

"I know they have clout, but it's only financial clout," he said. "They've not come up against me yet."

- INDEPENDENT