The spy and the mogul - an Aussie fashion drama

Fashion, money, death and tall tales are all part of a Sydney court drama, as BILLY ADAMS reports.

In Frank Monte's world truth is always stranger than fiction. But don't take anyone's word for it. That's the blurb publicising the life story of a man who has for years confidently described himself as the most famous private investigator on the planet.

And does he have some wild stories to tell. From finding Michael Rockefeller's skull in the jungles of Papua New Guinea to setting up a private army for an Arab sheikh, you are left wondering just how Monte was able to fit in a jet-set lifestyle stuffed with rich acquaintances, celebrity pals and glamorous girlfriends.

You can almost imagine an opening line of: "The name's Monte, Frank Monte," which, according to the man himself, isn't so far off the mark. "I don't necessarily have as many women and cars [as James Bond], but the comparison is fair," he once said.

Monte, 55, has spent much of the last decade dedicating himself to putting his experiences down on paper, and earlier this year The Spying Game: My Extraordinary Life was published in his home country, Australia.

While most people would have difficulty dreaming up Monte's wild reality, his astonishing stories have long been the stuff of legend, largely free from scrutiny.

Or they were, until he used the book to unleash a series of allegations concerning the slain fashion designer, Gianni Versace, and his empire.

Central to this was Monte's account of Versace's murder. Monte claimed Versace hadn't been killed by serial killer Andrew Cunanan, but by the Mob.

Monte's claims sparked the full wrath of the Versace clan. They took legal action, saying the book implied that not only was the corporation linked to the Mafia and laundered money for the Calabrian underworld, but that Gianni's siblings, Santo and Donatella, were involved in their brother's murder.

Far from working as a bodyguard and investigator for the fashion mogul, Versace said Monte had never even met the company's founder.

All of which set the scene for a remarkable piece of theatre that played out in court.

The normally imposing stairs leading up to Sydney's Federal Court became a sea of melodramatic activity. Santo and his large entourage swept into town to clear the Versace name. Outside court he blew air kisses to the media scrum and told them to "Buy Versace". Then he breezed up the stairs, turned to theatrically don his sunglasses, before disappearing inside.

The equally ostentatious Monte - known to prefer chunky gold jewellery and big cigars - strode towards the cameras. Confidence seemed to be oozing from a man who had just left his Rolls-Royce illegally parked outside the court with a copy of the controversial tome sitting on the dashboard.

The proceedings were no less colourful.

The corporation, Santo and Donatella were suing Monte for defamation, and sought exemplary damages. It was alleged the book amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct. And they wanted an injunction to stop him using the Versace name for this promotion worldwide.

The Versace family's barrister, Henric Nicholas, QC, didn't mince his words, describing Monte's allegations as "scandalous" and "fantasy" where "fiction begat fiction".

"These were a wickedly false set of assertions," he said. "The evidence clearly demonstrates that Mr Monte feeds on the oxygen of self-generated publicity and creates occasions for it."

Fifty-six-year-old Santo was cool, composed, elegant yet casual as he took the witness stand, his fluff of white hair sitting neatly atop a grey suit and pink open-neck shirt. But the suave demeanour was temporarily lost when pressed by Monte's counsel, Clive Evatt.

"You should be ashamed of saying things like that," snapped Santo, "because in this book there are all these false allegations and I'm being portrayed as a criminal."

Then came the face of Versace, and her long peroxide mane. Donatella may have been sitting in an office in New York but that didn't stop her interrupting Evatt's questions over the live video link.

She denied suggestions that she'd aimed a derogatory two-fingered gesture at Monte during a tribute to Gianni shortly after his death. "I don't do that because I'm a very well educated lady."

If the proceedings seemed surreal, those impressions were only hardened when Danni Minogue turned up in the public gallery. She was there, apparently, to support a friend who worked for the Versace legal team.

That gallery was transfixed as matters were raised that those involved would probably rather have left behind closed doors.

Under cross-examination, Santo conceded he was prosecuted in 1994 for paying about $US140,000 ($334,000) to corrupt Italian tax officials. But the conviction was overturned on appeal because he and other fashion houses were being extorted.

During these early exchanges, Monte appeared supremely confident. He had described the Versaces as "tailors ... not Gods or judges".

If you believe even a fraction of his stories, he should not have been unduly perturbed by his latest battle, played out in the dull surroundings of courtroom 21A.

Born in Egypt, his Italian parents emigrated to Australia when he was aged 11. He briefly worked as a police officer, and has been married once, a relationship that produced two children and a spectacularly acrimonious divorce.

But the private investigation industry is where everyone knows Monte's name. Over the years he has revelled in a series of audacious tales. Among them was being part of the "Beatles security detail", and later working as a bodyguard for Aristotle Onassis. Raising a mercenary army for the Sheikh of Dubai seemed to be a particularly hazardous affair, dogged as it was by firefights, secret police and female tourists who were maybe CIA agents.

Being thrown out of countries, shot at and beaten up is all part of the territory. And presumably good fodder for the film scripts he has prepared, which have been linked over the years to Hollywood stars like Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando, but which have so far failed to come to the silver screen.

The Monte Investigation Group's website boasts an impressive client list, including multi-nationals, banks, insurance companies and celebrities such as Gregory Peck, Diane Keaton and Ted Danson. There are offices in Sydney, London, New York and Beverly Hills.

But after 35 years as a PI, it was Monte's first big client that caused the first of a series of uncomfortable moments in court.

In the book he tells how he accepted $A8000 ($9800) from an Australian businessman who wanted him to go to New York to kill a wealthy banker. He swore on oath that everything in his memoir was true, then asked to be excused from giving evidence on some of the stories, for fear of incriminating himself. Those included stories of break-ins as well as organising bugging activities for Onassis.

Monte's claims that he worked for Versace hinged on the production of a series of faxes he said were sent by the fashion mogul, and diary entries that proved they had met on several occasions in 1996 and 1997.

But his ex-girlfriend Justine Wallace, called as a witness by Versace, testified that Monte had fabricated a relationship with Gianni after she and Monte stumbled on a fax with a Versace emblem near a rubbish bin in New York's Park Avenue.

Following the murder she claims he created "dummy" faxes, effectively saying: "Oh great, isn't it funny how things work out? Now he really can be a client of mine. I've got the fax. Who's going to question me? The guy's dead."

In court a hand-writing expert said the faxes were probably fakes. Under cross-examination Monte said that led him to suspect that Wallace or his former publicist Corri Hay faked the faxes.

Then, as the case drew to a close, the Versace team played its trump card. Presenting Gianni's passport, air tickets and hotel receipts to the court, they argued that the documents showed the fashion king couldn't possibly have met Monte on the dates specified - because he was somewhere else altogether.

Both sides will now have to wait until after Christmas before Justice Brian Tamberlin hands down his ruling.

But whatever happens, Monte seems likely to feel Versace's shadow over him for some time to come. When his allegations were first aired in the British media, Versace successfully sued.

The book was withdrawn in Australia almost immediately. Publisher Pan Macmillan apologised and offered a contribution to Versace's legal costs.

Other court battles are possible. Monte has lodged two defamation suits, against The Australian newspaper, over an article printed earlier this year, and Wallace.

Monte, who the court was told is pursuing a career as an "author and movie scriptwriter", is still hopeful of seeing his life's work in print. Should Versace win, it has pledged to do all it can to make sure he never utters the company's name again.