There's a knock at your front door. A couple of tradies say they've been working on the house next door and they've noticed tiles missing from your roof. Not to worry. For $20, they're happy to climb up and replace them.

But upon closer inspection, the hole in the roof is a little worse than first thought, they say. It would cost $970 and there's rain on the horizon. Still later it was worse again: they claim to have found asbestos and it would cost thousands more.

This is a scam of international proportions.

Starting in Ireland, fake tradies have been ripping off the elderly and the vulnerable in multimillion-dollar coordinated cons in the UK, Canada and Australia.

In the latest episode of John Silvester's Naked City, go behind the scenes with the detective who targeted one crew that pulled 37 scams in Melbourne leaving 43 victims, the eldest of which was 93 years old. 

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What he had was information on a notorious armed robbery crew, known as the gym gang, and he was prepared to talk, if the deal was right. 

He was The Driver, a trusted insider who turned informer on a gang that police still consider one of Melbourne's slickest.

His information would form the basis of a police operation, codenamed Tidelands, which became a cat-and-mouse game straight out of a spy novel. 

Crime reporter John Silvester brings you the final instalment of a special two-part episode of Naked City.

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Their heists were meticulous, and executed with military-style precision. And as soon as one job was done, they would disappear, sometimes for years.

For 40 years, police have been in a cat-and-mouse chase with one of Australia's slickest armed robbery crews - a tight group of Melbourne mates who pulled seven intricately planned jobs over 24 years, starting in the early 1980s.

Now, in part one of two episodes of John Silvester's Naked City, their full story can be told.

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Supreme Court judge Paul Coghlan has spent more than 50 years investigating, prosecuting and judging serious crooks on serious crimes.

Coghlan, the grandson of a Chinese merchant, innkeeper and opium dealer, became Director of Public Prosecutions during Melbourne's gangland war, brokering plea deals that cracked the underworld's wall of silence. 

From prosecuting a serial killer to pursuing a dodgy detective in one of Australia's first wire tap cases, Coghlan opens up to veteran crime reporter John Silvester in another episode of Naked City.

And a heads-up, there's a language warning for this one. 

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How police caught Paul Charles Denyer, and the women who came chillingly close to the Frankston serial's orbit.

In part two of John Silvester's season opening episode of Naked City, go behind-the-scenes of the investigation with the veteran crime reporter and hear from a suburban detective who, almost by chance, became the first officer Denyer chose to confess to.

Another woman also talks about her encounter with Denyer a week before he murdered his final victim, as well as Donna's lucky escape.

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In the winter of 1993, a serial killer terrorised Melbourne, stalking and murdering three young women in the bayside suburb of Frankston.

John Silvester is back for another season of Naked City, starting with a two-part episode on the investigation into Paul Charles Denyer, and the detectives that netted one of Australia's most notorious killers.

And a warning, some listeners may find this content distressing.

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The much anticipated fifth season of Naked City arrives on June 22.

Make sure to subscribe now and get all the episodes straight to your device. 

John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, will take you on a journey through his 40 years of dealing with the nation’s most dangerous criminals. 

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Since late 2020, the case of missing Sydney woman Melissa Caddick has captivated the country. A seemingly successful businesswoman from Sydney's eastern suburbs went missing after authorities raided her Dover Heights home amid questions over an unlicensed financial planning business.
Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont would reveal key details of a massive Ponzi scheme and a $23 million fraud that ripped off investors including her family and friends as Caddick lived the high life of overseas trips, cars and high end fashion. McClymont's coverage would win her a ninth Walkley Award.
Now McClymont and 60 Minutes’ Tom Steinfort are set to present a breakthrough podcast Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions that will follow the twists and turns of a case where everyone has a theory of their own. What happened to the money and what happened to Melissa? Liar Liar will reveal fresh details of the crime of the century through interviews with key players and takes listeners from upmarket jewellery auction rooms in Hong Kong, to the ski slopes of Aspen to private islands in the South Pacific.

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Cliff Lockwood was just 19 when he left the peace of a tiny town to join the police force. “I know it sounds funny but I just wanted to do good. Nineteen was way too young. You don’t know anything.”

On Sunday April 9, 1989 Lockwood and his partner, Senior Detective Dermot Avon arrested car thief and suspected violent criminal Gary Abdullah and took him to his Drummond Street two level flat to search for evidence and an accomplice.

According to police Abdullah grabbed and imitation firearm and Lockwood responded by firing six shots from his gun, then grabbed Avon’s to fire the last and fatal shot. 

Both police were charged with murder and were acquitted.

Lockwood’s left policing and his life spiralled out of control. He was jailed in the Northern Territory.

Now he is back in Victoria trying to rebuild his life.

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For a time gangland figures lived a fast and often lucrative life, but very few made it out alive. After 11 unsolved murders, including Moran brothers Mark and Jason, and their father Lewis, police put together a taskforce to tackle the gangland war. They investigated Andrew 'Benji' Veniamin, Mick Gatto, Carl Williams and Tony Mockbell among others. 
Purana ended up investigating over 300 people, listening in on more than 100,000 hours of phone conversations, using 39 tracking devices to follow suspects for more than 22,000 hours. One of the key police informants was lawyer Nicola Gobbo, a fact which puts several convictions into jeopardy.

Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

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