when i arrived in australis there was a nationwide manhunt, the uniforms, the banks, the govt. were all searching for a fugative named john fredrich who had set up an entity known as the national safety council, modelled upon thunderbirds and international rescue john received the medal of order of australia in relation to his service.
little know to the authorities john had already faked his death on the italian alps after embezzling money from a german road company. 
the banks and investors, including the govt were bewitched by fredrich who had the charm and allure of the most brazen confidence trickster. 27 banks had handed over millions and several had fallen.  interpol and all australian forces were out looking for him, and eventually tracked him down to a motel in perth.
although he had been given full security clearance to australian defence forces it was discovered he was not an australian citizen and did not possess a birth certificate. 
just before the trail john fredrich was found dead on his farm with one single bullet wound in his head, and then there was nothing. no media coverage, no mention of the millions he had stolen, no coverage, it was as if he had never existed.
during those early years i found this fascinating and asked several people if they had heard of him, all said no. it was as if i was imagining this whole event and there was no record of his existence or fraud.
while john awaited trail he agreed to write his autobiography and was recommended a friend by his bodyguard. 
richard was a young man, struggling to be a legitimate writer in tasmania when he got the call from the mainland, they had agreed to publish john's bio and richard was asked to ghost write it. he did, it's called 'codename ioga.'
fast forwards 2018, award winning australian writer richard flannagan writes 'first person' a novel based upon the events that occurred while richard was writing 'codename.'
wow, it's an ingenious novel, a slightly gothic tale with some brilliant writing and strangely humorous elements.
but the best thing, the one certainty is my mind can be trusted, richard fredrich was real, he did exist despite very few people acknowledging him, my memory served me well.