From the shady cover of a tropical tax haven, they hatched a billion dollar plan to raid the treasuries of the world, robbing the poor to give to the rich. A death, missing computer disks, a winebox full of secret files, a tax haven, alleged extortion, arms dealing, corruption, coverups and criminal fraud, billion dollar deals, kidnap attempts, espionage, secret military operations, death threats, break-ins, a maverick politician...and an investigative television team's battle to expose the truth. Follow THE PARADISE CONSPIRACY on a journey to a country you never knew existed, a New Zealand that politicians would still have you believe doesn't exist, a place one diplomat called 'a dirty little country'. Using a New Zealand Government bank as their flagship, they sailed the seas of global high finance under a tax haven's jolly roger, their victims the taxpayers of an unsuspecting world. This is the story they spent two years and a million dollars trying to ban, but the biggest secrets are yet to be told. THE PARADISE CONSPIRACY - the explosive true narrative behind the Winebox investigation, from the award winning journalist who cracked the Winebox code. It doesn't read like a tax story, it reads like a crime story. (See also Investigate magazine, "Fay Richwhite & secret political donations")
http://www.investigatemagazine.com/pdf's/jan2.pdf#Page=10 THE PARADISE CONSPIRACY Review Comments "...compelling book, one that started out as a TV programme but which got too hot for the original medium...a Watergate-type tale that takes the reader through possibly unlawful and certainly immoral offshore deals and what might even have been the contract killing of a crucial participant." - NZ Listener "It is so refreshing to read a thoroughly researched book. It is the closest thing to a John Grisham novel, but it is the real thing...this book would have to be among the best investigative stories written." - The Waikato Times, Hamilton "It is sensational stuff and hard to fault. Wishart is a professional. He cites his sources, makes it clear when he is unsure of something and treats his material critically." - The Republican The Paradise Conspiracy is required reading...pacy, penetrating scrutiny." - NZ Herald Wishart presents facts he can totally substantiate, and leaves readers to draw some obvious conclusions...compelling, revealing and worrying reading." - Bay of Plenty Times
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AUCKLAND - The bestselling book The Paradise Conspiracy is the subject of a new movie by leading director Geoff Murphy.Murphy, whose credits include Dante's Peak, Young Guns 2, The Quiet Earth and Goodbye Pork Pie, begins filming what he calls the "contemporary conspiracy thriller" on location in Auckland this month - his first movie shot in New Zealand since he shifted to Hollywood 15 years ago.
Murphy says the movie, titled "Spooked", will utilise technology pioneered from the Lord of the Rings project and compete head on with US movies from a production point of view.
Spooked stars a strong New Zealand cast, including Cliff Curtis (Training Day, Traffic, Whale Rider), Chris Hobbs (Shortland Street, McLeod's Daughters, Water Rats), Miriama Smith (Shortland Street, Mercy Peak) and John Leigh (Spin Doctors), as well as Kelly Johnson, who starred in Murphy's 1981 blockbuster, Goodbye Pork Pie.
The story is inspired by the true events surrounding the mysterious death of Paul White, a New Zealand computer dealer who unwittingly purchased highly sensitive international banking records on disks as part of a second-hand computer deal. Those events are detailed in The Paradise Conspiracy, an international bestselling book written by Investigate magazine editor Ian Wishart in 1995.
The movie is bankrolled by the New Zealand Film Commission and businessman Eric Watson.