The Betrayal of Trust: How Rory Conacher Deceived Family and Friends

 

Summary: A Tale of Deception and Broken Trust

This is the heartbreaking story of Michelle Alistoun, who, along with her husband Sebastien Mangeant, fell victim to a financial scheme orchestrated by her own cousin, Rory Conacher. Over three years, Rory exploited their trust, draining their savings with promises of lucrative returns that never materialised. What began as a seemingly legitimate crypto trading opportunity turned into an endless cycle of lies, delays, and manipulation.

The Initial Trust

Michelle and Rory grew up together in a close-knit family. Despite Rory’s history of being unreliable and manipulative, his charm and charisma always made him a favorite. When he visited Michelle and Sebastien in Dubai in 2022, he presented himself as a successful entrepreneur, claiming to run a profitable crypto trading desk. His pitch was convincing—he spoke of secured funds, steady returns, and a solid financial strategy.

Despite initial skepticism, the couple decided to invest large sums, including their life savings, their house deposit, and their daughter’s university fund. Rory reassured them repeatedly that their money was safe.

The Collapse and Excuses

By August 2022, things started to unravel. Rory informed them that his company had collapsed due to unforeseen “black swan” events. However, he promised to recover the money and repay his creditors. For years, he strung them along with reassurances, making it seem as though their funds were just around the corner.

Rory’s tactics included:

• Delays and Legal Claims – Constant references to pending court rulings and business deals that were supposedly about to yield results.
• Religious Justifications – Sending Bible verses to creditors to encourage patience.
• New Business Ventures – Mentioning income from various sources that would soon pay out.
• Blame Shifting – Claiming attorneys, the government, or external factors were preventing him from accessing funds.
• Confusing Stories – Introducing new characters, such as known fraudster Clayton Whittaker, into his scheme.

Each time a deadline passed, Rory provided another excuse, ensuring his victims remained hopeful yet trapped in his web of lies.

The Breaking Point

By 2024, Michelle and Sebastien had reached their limit. They no longer believed Rory but still struggled to accept the full reality of his deception. Their final wake-up call came when they discovered that Rory had launched a new scam—asking people for $15 to fund a fake class action lawsuit against Sam Lee.

Upon further investigation, Michelle and Sebastien realized they were not alone. Many others had lost significant amounts to Rory, with some creditors completely giving up on recovery. In February 2025, instead of sending repayments, Rory sent them a prayer.

This led Michelle to take decisive action—she exposed Rory’s fraudulent dealings to all creditors, including sharing a video by The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Avenger that revealed his fake class action. The response was overwhelming. Other victims came forward, many expressing that they had lost all faith in getting their money back.

Final Confrontation and the End of the Illusion

When Michelle confronted Rory one last time, he responded with more deflection. He claimed to be under an NDA and introduced mysterious “businessmen” who were supposedly helping to resolve the issue. However, Michelle soon discovered that these “businessmen” were actually a group of creditors planning to take legal action against Rory.

At this point, it became clear that Rory’s house of cards was finally collapsing. His cycle of deception, manipulation, and empty promises was exposed for what it was.

Conclusion: A Hard Lesson Learned

Michelle and Sebastien, along with many other victims, may never recover their lost funds. But by sharing their story, they hope to prevent others from falling into similar traps.

This is not just a story about financial fraud—it is about the devastating betrayal of trust. Rory Conacher manipulated those closest to him, exploiting their love and loyalty for his own gain.

If there is one lesson to take from this, it is to always be cautious—even with those you trust the most.

Original Letter from Michelle Alistoun

Below is the full, unedited letter written by Michelle Alistoun detailing her experience with Rory Conacher. Voice recordings from the original communications will also be included to further document this case.

My name is Michelle Alistoun, and I am Rory Conacher’s cousin. I have known him my entire life. Along with many others, I have given Rory a significant amount of money, and I am here to share our story. This is not easy for me because I have loved Rory for most of my life. However, I am sharing my experience because I have been deeply hurt, and I want to prevent others from going through the same nightmare we have endured over the past three years.

I have been warned that telling the truth may hinder Rory’s ability to repay his numerous creditors. But the truth itself cannot do that—unless, of course, Rory’s promises of recovery are lies. If he genuinely repays his creditors in an honest and transparent manner, I will publicly acknowledge it. However, if any supposed “recovery” comes at the cost of deceiving future victims through shady dealings, we want no part of it.

The last thing I want is to harm Rory’s creditors. I believe they know this. These individuals have already been through hell. They are exhausted, just like we are, and they want nothing more than to put this nightmare behind them and move on with their lives. I understand that. But for me to move on, I need to tell our story.

Rory was born on July 2, 1974, and I was born a little under two years later. His mother and my father were siblings, our families have always been close. [A] [B]

As children, we spent a great deal of time together. I often played at Rory’s house with his brothers and my older sister, who was a tomboy. I was the only girly girl in the group, and even as a child, I found Rory to be a manipulative bully. I would only play with them if I had the protection of his eldest brother. Some things happened back then that I won’t discuss here—because we were just kids, and perhaps those incidents are best addressed with a psychologist. That is not the purpose of this story. Rory and his brothers also spent time at our house, and we spent many school holidays together in the coastal South African town of Scottburgh at our mutual grandmother’s home.

The first time I ever heard the phrase “He could sell ice to a snowman,” it was my parents saying it—about Rory. And they meant it as a compliment. Rory had an undeniable gift for sales. As he grew up, he also developed extraordinary charisma. Everyone loved Rory, and I was no exception. He was my favorite boy cousin. [C]

Rory is the kind of person who is easy to be around, easy to confide in. He presents himself as a “family man”—or at least, he used to. I’m not sure he truly is one anymore. But he speaks in a way that makes you believe he deeply loves and cares about his family. And yet, I am his family, and his actions say something very different from his words.

People trust Rory. They always have. But one thing I have known about him my entire life is that he is unreliable. He will make you believe he will do something or meet you at a certain time, but he will be late—if he shows up at all. We all tolerated Rory’s unreliability because he was so likable. He made you feel like he adored you as much as you adored him.

I moved to the UAE in 2012, initially living in Abu Dhabi. Rory visited us in 2019, and we grew even closer during that time. [D] [E] [F] [G] Three years ago, I moved to Dubai, and Rory visited us again in 2022. Spending time with him has always been a pleasure. [H] [I] [J]

Whenever friends or family from South Africa visit us in the UAE, they quickly realize that their South African rands have very little value here. As a result, my husband and I are used to treating our guests to food and experiences. However, Rory has been the only exception to this rule—he always insisted on picking up the bill for us in the UAE. I was always both amazed and pleased to see that he was doing so well professionally.

My name is Sebastien Mangeant – I’m Michelle’s husband. Michelle and I have been together for longer than 15 years so I met Rory a long time ago and can confirm that he’s an instantly likable guy.

During Rory’s last visit in 2022, he spoke to me about his financial business. He had opened a crypto trading desk and was making significant profits from swing trading, if I remember correctly. At the time, market volatility was high, so it was entirely believable that he could generate profits by using customer loans and securing decent percentage returns on a monthly basis. This was clearly not a long-term plan, but something that could work for a while. The idea was that we would invest, earn profits from the interest on the loans we made to him, and then exit safely, as the funds were supposedly secured.

I explained the scheme to Michelle and told her I thought it could work—or that it could be a Ponzi scheme. We didn’t believe he would involve his own family in a Ponzi scheme.

There is only one person in the world I trust 100%, and that’s my husband. So when he came to me about Rory’s business, I told him I didn’t believe mixing family and money was a good idea. But Rory kept talking to my husband, and eventually, I thought… sure, why not? If Sebastien was comfortable, then I was too. That was my mistake because, in the back of my mind, I remembered that years ago, my younger brother had lost money through Rory in something related to Bitcoin. Still, I swallowed my doubt. This was Rory, after all, and I loved Rory.

On April 12, 2022, my husband gave Rory a significant amount of money. On April 19, an equally significant amount—representing our UAE savings—was given to Rory. Back in South Africa, I had sold three properties and put all my life savings into a stock account that was performing poorly. I wanted to move the funds, and Sebastien suggested I pass them on to Rory. So on May 11, 2022, we transferred my entire life savings to Rory. At this point, I felt a little uncomfortable, but Sebastien reassured me: I was family, Rory clearly loved me, and if it was a Ponzi scheme, I’d be protected—he’d get me out. Rory was, and still is, adamant that it was never a Ponzi scheme.

On May 13, 2022, I called Rory and told him he now had in his possession my entire life savings, the deposit for our first house in Dubai, and my teenage daughter’s university fund. He responded in less than an hour, assuring me that everything was safe and that the funds were placed in a secure trust account—nothing could go wrong. It’s devastating that I no longer have this voicemail. I changed phones multiple times, and those voice notes were lost. [4]

In July 2022, my sister died, which was the greatest tragedy of my life. The circumstances of her death were horrific, and most people didn’t know how to react or offer support. But Rory was there. He knows what to say and do when people are grieving or under stress. [5]

In August 2022, Rory became quiet about our financial dealings. We received no statements, and we started getting nervous, wanting to pull our funds. On August 10, we got the news that his company had collapsed due to three “black swan” events. I cried a lot. It would have been nice if the story had ended there, but the nightmare was only beginning. [2]

We had a Zoom call with Rory. [3] Looking back, I feel like such a naive fool, but at that time, my main concern was my beloved cousin. He looked so sad and stressed, and I was genuinely worried he’d have a heart attack. During his last visit to Dubai, he had been in poor health. I don’t mean to be unkind, but he was significantly overweight and suffering from sleep apnea, so I was deeply concerned. Anyway, he promised us he would make things right. He said he’d likely have it resolved within ten days.

We were not in a desperate situation, as we had not invested any funds needed for daily life or to finance our other projects. Instead of getting angry at him for not even checking whether the money had ever been secured in a trust—the very basis of the deal—we chose to avoid adding stress to his life. Instead, we told him we would support his efforts to recover the funds and assured him of our love above all else.

[9] In the early days, he appointed a woman from RJS named Sue Stringer to communicate with the creditors. All the creditors had lost not just a little but a significant amount of money. Sue was appointed so that Rory could focus on the important work of recovering these funds. However, over time, Sue Stringer stopped communicating with everyone, and it became apparent that the promised ten-day timeframe had never been realistic.

Looking back at this letter now, it’s almost amusing to see that it was co-signed by Peter Schuil—someone who came to Rory’s defense and even wrote a note to all the RJS creditors in an attempt to discredit you, Danny. [555]

In 2022 and 2023, both my husband and I were independently speaking with Rory. Sebastien trusted that Rory would eventually pay us back, but I was becoming more doubtful. Whenever I felt worried, Rory would say all the right things to reassure me, and I would feel better again. [10]

[1] In September 2022, all RJS creditors received a message asking us to confirm our details to make the repayment process easier and more streamlined. In hindsight, this seems to have been a tactic—to make us feel like the money was always just around the corner, yet something always seemed to get in the way of it actually happening.

At one point in October 2022, I called Rory to check on the progress, and for the first time, he made me angry. Here he was, having lost our entire life savings—at the very least, due to negligence—and he told me to “put it out of my mind!” That was the moment my anger truly surfaced. I thought to myself, I’ll put YOU out of my mind, and I didn’t speak to him for a while. [6]

But in reality, I had played right into his hands—I left him alone to do what he does. And what is that, exactly? Who knows. What I do know is that a lot of people have lost a lot of money to him, yet we were still being fed the same lines about how hard he was working on it, how stressed he was, and, of course, how incredibly resilient he is.

[13] In March 2023, RJS creditors received an email stating that “RJS could receive the first payments towards the end of April.” We are constantly reassured that Rory is fully committed to repaying all of us in full—we are still reassured to this day… and perhaps for all eternity?

In May 2023, creditors were once again reassured that all was well, but this time, we were also given a comforting Bible verse from Proverbs 3:27. That should settle any doubts and assure us they are with God, so all will be well, I suppose? [11]

In August 2023, we heard from Rory himself, who once again stated his commitment to paying us back. He assured us that “monies will start to flow, and I will be able to make payments, which will be directed by the credit committee.” We were told there were three sources of income. He thanked us for our patience. It sounded like things were wrapping up nicely. [666]

During September 2023, nothing much happened. There were a couple of quick calls in which Rory assured us that things were proceeding, though he didn’t have any new updates.

In October 2023, we went to South Africa. I thought it would be a good idea to invite Rory to join us for dinner with our friends and family—you know, keep him close. Surprisingly, Rory agreed. He arrived very late and very stressed… and you can’t make this stuff up—he had forgotten his wallet at home! [K]

In November 2023, no one had received any money, BUT the magistrate ruled in favor of RJS, so surely the money would come through. Rory then thanked everyone for supporting him.

He told us that by December 2023, everything would be sorted because the ruling was clear and payments were due. The court system was supporting us, the attorneys were processing the files, but payments to SARS and other obligations needed to be cleared first. We were at the back of the queue but still in line for payments that were secured and supposedly happening.

By January 2024, I was becoming more impatient, so I left my husband to handle the conversations with Rory, as it was causing me too much emotional stress. Honestly, I didn’t

care how he lost the money—I just wanted it back or, at the very least, to know for certain that it was never coming back so I could have closure.

In January 2024, he emailed all creditors, stating that he was now in discussions with the lawyers and remained fully committed. [444]

Also, in January 2024, we were introduced to a man named Clayton Whittaker. To put it nicely, he seems rough around the edges, while dear Rory is a cultured and civilized man who always says and does the right things. Again, we were told this was coming! We have countless voice notes from Clayton, but here is one we received in January 2024 so you can get a feel for him. [BBB]

Rory is painting Clayton as a bad guy while simultaneously making friends with him to get the money back. I now believe that Rory and Clayton are working together in a classic good cop/bad cop scheme. Here’s what I recently learned about Clayton:

It turns out he is a criminal in South Africa—this is not just a rumor. I found actual articles and one describing him as a menace to society. Back in 2015, he had nine outstanding warrants for his arrest. He is wanted for fraud, specifically for confirming payments that were never actually made. A private investigator stated, “I’ve never met anyone with such a low level of conscience and complete disrespect for the law.” [39] [40] [41] [42]

I expect to be told that this is not the same guy, but if it quacks like a duck and moves like a duck, then maybe it is, in fact, a duck. The relationship between Rory and Clayton is unclear—what Rory says and how they behave are two different things. However, I tend to believe they are allies because Clayton was given Michelle’s latest email (by Rory) to the creditors, which he confirms in writing.

In February 2024, Rory claimed that money was starting to flow, making it seem like this nightmare was finally coming to an end. It appeared clearer than ever that the money was arriving—it was here! [III]

[12] In March 2024,I asked Rory straight out, “What does your gut tell you? That it hasn’t been received? Any ideas why?” He answers that he reckons the attorneys are holding onto the money for the sake of earning interest, even though he won a court order. I’m seriously scratching my head, thinking, Wow, this is crazy. I even suggest he should make a movie about the whole scenario. He talks about his amazing resilience throughout the ordeal, how his intentions were so honorable, and decides to write a book titled Get Up. He already has the caption for it: [14]

“You can be beaten down so many times, but as long as you get up, you are moving forward.”

On 25 March 2024, he added that he expects to see the cash by the end of the week. ‘Great timing for my birthday’, I thought. [20]

[222] On 30 April 2024, we are told that the matter is back in court, with a date set for 7 May. Once again, we are thanked for our patience. Later, Rory messages, saying, No, Clayton got it wrong—the magistrate didn’t sign off on it. [21] What? But on 7 May, Clayton sends a message saying that everything is done and paid. [EEE]

In May, creditors are told that 28 May is the final day for a deal on the case. Talk of payments coming through resurfaces, and once again, we are thanked for our patience. Still completely lost, we create a WhatsApp group between the three of us because, at this point, I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore.

[18] In June 2024, we received a bunch of gibberish, confusing messages forwarded to us. We have no idea what’s going on, and I start giving Rory the benefit of the doubt—maybe he doesn’t either. [22] But then, there’s a forwarded message stating that payment will come next week, no later than 26 June. [19]

This endless confusion, which makes your head spin, feels like another tactic—sliding in a bit of hope while overcomplicating everything, giving us fragments of a story but never the full picture.

In July 2024, it’s Rory’s birthday. We wish him a happy birthday, and he talks about all the money that is expected to flow in! [17] We even invited him to come to Dubai, and he’s happy to do so because he really needs a break… Poor guy has been working so hard on… um, I don’t really know. [7]

[15] In August 2024, Clayton sent a message saying, “We will celebrate on or before the 5th… we have done it… I hope you sleep like I will today, in peace.” Then, on 27 August, Rory says, “The money is there, no more stress.” He’s also “working on other things” and “working around the clock.” [16]

We also start hearing about Sam Lee and a lawsuit involving 17,000 people. [23]

On 20 September, I point out that we keep hearing about a “next week” that never comes. I provide numerous examples. Seb asks Rory if he even knows what’s going on, but Rory simply replies, “We are at the near end.” We start receiving videos showing the front of a truck in the snow, but we are never told or shown what is actually on this truck. The cycle of “next week, next week, the next thing” continues, and I’m getting more and more irritated.

[333] It seems Rory picks up on our frustration, so on 29 September, he sends us a comforting video, talking about how many things are in play. Somehow, we have apparently invested in crypto but then, it’s also about court cases with a water municipality, deliveries in Mozambique, and the weather… what? [35] If you question what he’s talking about, he throws in more stories, leaving us feeling dumb. [FFF]

On 14 October 2024, while in South Africa, we jokingly tell Rory that we’re in Cape Town and that he can bring us a suitcase of cash. He responds, “Cash deals are on the table, timing’s

good.” [34] Surprisingly, he actually shows up—but of course, there’s no cash. There never has been at any stage! He sits on the couch, chats with us, and explains how everything is just great and how hard he is working—blah, blah, blah. We’re amazed he even showed up, and we start thinking, “Maybe he must be genuine if he drove all this way to see us… right?!” Just amazing. In fact, on this occasion, he actually arrives on time—which is quite unheard of.

Around 20 October 2024, it seems the manufacturing side was experiencing issues due to electricity shortages and weather conditions.

On 23 October, Rory sent us a reassuring message, saying, “Rest assured that something will happen as soon as I’ve got the first bit of cash flow coming in.” He was being very transparent, trying his best. [36]

On 11 November, we received a voice message from Clayton, stating, “Everyone will have a good Christmas.” However, he also warned about people “messing with things,” saying that those who had the cheek to follow up with attorneys were making things worse. According to him, contacting attorneys was bad for anyone involved. He insisted that people needed to wait, that everyone was in the same boat, and that no one should cause trouble. He ranted that no idiot should interfere, calling it pathetic for anyone to “mess things up.” His conclusion? “Don’t pay the troublemakers! People must wait because we will all have a good Christmas.” [CCC]

My brain got stuck on that—Christmas. Let’s see if we actually have the good Christmas we were promised. At this point, I make the statement that everything was “as clear as mud.”

Then, on 12 November, Clayton explained how at peace he was feeling, and Rory confidently declared, “The payout is very close.” [33] [AAA]

On 29 November, we heard about Rory’s hard journey and how he’s still here. He asked for good vibes and left it up to us to decide whether we believed him or not. [30]

Skepticism was, of course, widespread. Rory claimed he would “get to the bottom of everything,” and there was talk of some nasty things that I won’t even bother posting here—mostly because they were just empty threats and could have landed him in serious trouble. Isn’t it funny how I’m protecting him here? But in the end, it was just more hot air, like so many other things.

[31] Then, on 10 December, Rory declares that he would fly to Durban and sort things out. [GGG] More voice notes from Clayton followed [HHH] … but by now, we all knew that there was no substance behind any of it. Nothing ever came of anything.

By 22 December, I’m a bit fed up so I say exactly what I’m thinking because it’s bad for my health to let anything fester. Seb has a little outburst too. Rory has nothing to say and ignores us this time. [32]

On 26 December, Christmas has come and gone but maybe Rory is having that good Christmas that was promised.. Who knows… he just forwards us some messages with no context about some people having some disasters and losing staff. [27]

[8] On 3 January, I have another rant with Rory and go on about how he just shares lies with us over and over again.. It’s really not cool. Then I voice my inner thoughts of where the huge amount of stolen funds actually landed up and I’m genuinely hoping it landed in some good hands??? [28] Rory answers me with blah blah blah.. Hope for a Dubai case, we hear how he hasn’t given up.

[29] On 5 February, we get another date of funds being received on 26 February following a delivery of shipment where the receiver is delighted with what’s being received. We should be happy and celebrating but we don’t do anything.. We don’t even respond. This is the first time that I hear about Businessmen working with Rory to help to get all these things resolved. [24] Together we are strong, he says. We are not going over the 26th, he adds [25]

On 20 February… I’m playing around on the internet and typing the name Rory Conacher to see what comes up. I came across your video Danny entitled “Rory Conacher’s Fake Class Action Exposed”. It really felt as if someone had opened the curtains and let in some sunshine. We can clearly see Rory has a new community and is asking a lot of people for little bits of money… 15 dollars for a class action lawsuit against Sam Lee. It is exposed as a scam. We use this opportunity to draw a line in the sand and hold him to the 26 February… if he doesn’t, well then I think it’s time for some exposure! Exposure to the other creditors, exposure for sharing our story with you and exposure for the whole world but really, we just want closure of this.

I go onto Chat GPT and type “is Rory Conacher a con man?” Chat GPT confirms that he most likely is and gives me plenty of reasons as to why and advises extreme caution with any dealings with him. Anyone can repeat this same exercise.

I further ask chat GPT to provide me with all the characteristics of a good con man and Rory ticks almost all of the boxes. Anyone can repeat this same exercise.

So here we have someone who looks very much like a duck, moves like a duck, but Rory claims he isn’t a duck.

On 23 February, he requested a Zoom call. We deny him that opportunity—we are unwilling to hear more stories. We finally feel that with a push, something will happen.

26 February arrives, and instead of sending us money, he sends us a prayer.[26] He also speaks at length about these “cooperative businessmen” who are supposedly assisting him. He even sends us their names from their WhatsApp group.

27 February 2025 comes, and we email all the creditors [888]. We make no accusations—we simply share a little of what we’ve found, including the YouTube video of his alleged fake class action suit, and allow people to draw their own conclusions. The private responses come flooding in. Many people mention that they have lost large sums of

money and have completely lost faith in any chance of recovery. Rory is called a thief, and one man states that he has a better chance of getting pregnant than seeing a cent of his money again.

The general feeling is that people are exhausted. They just want to move on with their lives. And God, I understand them all. We’re so worn out, too

On March 1st, I pulled out some childhood photos of Rory and me—my favorite boy cousin. I cried the whole day. I contacted him, sent him some photos, and begged him for the truth. I told him I would stop this train if he just came clean with me.

He responded with declarations of love and asked what he could do to prove he wasn’t lying. But now, he’s warning me that we’ll have to “rebuild” after the “drama train” I’m creating. He shares new voice notes—voices I haven’t heard before—supposedly from people taking action. New voices. I later learned these are “the businessmen.” These amazing businessmen—again. Who are they, I wonder? These supposed allies of Rory?

Nevertheless, I tell Rory that I’m not buying the Dubai story. He scrambles to prove it, sending his usual nonsensical voice notes and screenshots of emails that serve as no proof at all—they just give me a backache. He claims he has signed an NDA. We tell him he can send it to us with any confidential details redacted. If he had provided that, I wouldn’t be doing this now. But instead, he claims he’s too busy and must “put the group on silent.” How convenient.

He had told all the creditors that he could put us in touch with officials in Dubai, [37] so we took him up on that. But, as expected, it’s all hot air. This could have all been avoided if he had provided a shred of evidence. At this point, I think it’s safe to assume that nothing is happening for RJS in Dubai.

Then, I receive an email from a lovely creditor who shares a phone number. We start chatting. He tells me his sad story, which sounds eerily similar to mine. He explains that he’s part of a group that’s tired of the nonsense. They want to file charges against Rory and are already in discussions with a lawyer. They are a group of four men, and, as it turns out, they are the businessmen.

You couldn’t make this stuff up.

[111] And so, Rory’s house of cards comes tumbling down—one after the other.

Is this the end of the story? Will there be a recovery? Will there be justice? Likely no to all three. But we are proudly taking this step. We can always make more money, but my main motivation is to heal the hurt and prevent anyone else from walking the same road we did.

We are intelligent beings. We were not naive. We were dealing with a master—a brilliant man who goes by the name of my cousin, Rory Conacher.

Thank you, Danny, for allowing us to speak on your forum. Thank you for giving us the space