Australia's "greatest conman" Bon Levi, a convicted international fraudster, is now allegedly papering top tourists' destination of the country with fraudulent job ads for bikini-clad massage therapists.
Levi, also known as "Ron the Con" is alleged to be behind a series of Bikini Girls Massage posters offering high paying jobs for scantily clad women. Seen across empty shopfronts in Daylesford, located in the north-west of Melbourne, the posters feature Hungarian pornstar Aletta Ocean, promising an income of up to $2,000 per week in tips, with the tagline -- "Our girls love their job."
Who Is This Man?
The 77-year-old Levi is also known as Ron Frederick, Roddy Farrow, or John McCorry. He was labeled as one of Australia's most "notorious conmen" by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. As per the early reports Levi has over 50 convictions for fraud, stealing, breaking and entering, aggravated assault, unlawful common assault, and false pretenses.
In 2010, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection has launched legal action in two Perth Courts against Levi, the operator of the Bikini Girls Massage business, and his employee Leigh Currie, alleging misleading advertisement in respect of employment and breaching business registration laws.
Levi was jailed on three separate occasions between 1977 and 2005 in South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland for fraudulent business activity. In 1998, he faced more than three years of imprisonment in America's Missouri for his role in a mail-fraud scheme. Levi also published five books such as 'Conman Genius,' 'Conman In Prison', and 'Conman Rich', in which he claims to have invented the whipper snipper.
In March 2020, Western Australia Government took the unusual step of warning consumers about job advertisements for his Narrogin Bikini Girls Massage franchise. The authorities said in a statement that Levi could be breaching legal restrictions requiring all of his job ads to be approved by the consumer protection commissioner.
The Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard said, "We would like the community to be aware that there is a Court order in force that places some requirements on Levi's business activities. Should any allegations of misleading consumers or employment applicants be supported with evidence, we will investigate with the view of taking further legal action."
As per Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) records, Levi held the business name Bikini Girls Massage until April 2019.
Seeking Girls
In Daylesford, the ads featuring a new massage parlor started appearing in June. An unnamed woman told ABC that when she made a call to a number in the posters, a man named Bon told her that he would employ her to do massage from the first week of July. The woman was also told that she could travel Australia along with Bon and teach massage procedures to other girls to grow the business.
However, the number featured on the ads is found to have been linked to a not-functioning website for Aussie Snax, which is a company with headquarters in Daylesford. The firm promised to "turn your fortunes around and get you rich today" with tips from a man with 49 years in the massage industry.
The local residents of Daylesford, are rallying against the advertisements, saying they just want to keep their small community town safe. Hepburn Shire Mayor Licia Kokocinski said the posters are not only inappropriate, but also against public decency.
"This kind of brazen advertising for sex work, which is what it is, I think that a lot of people who live here would find it pretty awful, and I would too. They may not be advertising sex, but well, OK, what else is it advertising?" added Kokocinski.
