The Block Emese Fajk scandal deepens as Photoshop evidence is explained
The evidence behind A Current Affair’s claim that the failed purchaser of The Block’s winning house sent a forged bank document to an ex-boyfriend has been unveiled.
The Channel Nine program was sent a bank statement from a former associate of mysterious cyber security consultant Emese Fajk.
The source claimed Ms Fajk had sent them a Coutts Bank document showing her company Anakin Consultancy had transferred 50,000 pounds she allegedly owed.
But Nine was told that sum from the Star Wars-branded business never arrived – just as her $4.2 million for Jimmy and Tam’s home failed to materialise by deadline.
The mysterious cyber-security expert has blamed an incompetent property lawyer for The Block blunder.
She flatly denied ever having an ex-partner who she owed 50,000 pounds, or having sent such a statement to anyone.
But it is clear that the document the ex-boyfriend allegedly received – from the banker that serves the likes of Queen Elizabeth II – has been doctored.
Emese Fajk is a self-described cyber-security security who says she has worked with the United Nations and Apple. Her $4.2 million purchase of Jimmy and Tam’s The Block house has fallen through
This is the Coutts Bank document Emese Fajk is alleged to have sent to an ex-partner as evidence that she had paid them 50,000 pounds owing
When placed into Photoshop, the graphic design technology shows a grey-and-white square pattern where erasures have previously occurred
A Current Affair reported its in-house designer said: ‘You can’t tell in the PDF (original) but in Photoshop it’s obvious where she erased’.
Photoshop displays a grey and white square pattern where previous transactions on the statement appear to have been deleted.
A Daily Mail Australia graphic designer independently examined the document on Thursday.
‘When you open the PDF statement in Photoshop, a fair amount on the statement has been erased,’ they said.
‘After you the add white to the areas where it has been erased, you can see small remnants left behind,’ the designer added.
Those remains are circled in red below. The lines where the numbers would typically be symmetrical are likewise out of alignment.
The apparent remains of deleted entries on the bank statement are clearly visible upon further inspection, above
Likewise, the sums on the bank statement aren’t in alignment
Ms Fajk, a self-described cyber security consultant to the United Nations and Apple, claims to be a victim herself of ‘fabricated stories’.
She alleged the bank document had been sent to Nine by someone who was ‘trying to blackmail her’.
‘I have never provided any bank statements to any former partners, so any allegations of a photoshopped version is incorrect,’ she said.
‘The claims made by the person concerned are vexatious and false and follow a two-year period where I have endured threats from this person.’
Daily Mail Australia this week published screenshots Ms Fajk sent The Block’s producers, showing ANZ internet banking payments of the sums she owed for Jimmy and Tam’s carefully renovated home.
The statements seemingly show her making instant payments in a $426,500 deposit on December 17 and a further $4,072,951 payment for the property’s settlement the next day.
But the payments were made via the ‘Pay Anyone’ tool and ANZ customers with personal accounts have strict daily transaction limits of $25,000.
That limit would seemingly have prevented Ms Fajk’s alleged $4,072,951 payment or the $425,600 deposit from going through.
But her statements provided to Nine clearly said they had been transferred.
The Block’s winning couple Jimmy and Tam are said to be gutted the property settlement fell over
This is the screengrab of an ANZ bank transfer which Emese Fajk sent to Channel Nine as proof she had paid $4,072,951 to buy Jimmy and Tam’s property on The Block
This grab shows how she allegedly paid the deposit the day before on December 17. However, as of Wednesday evening the critical payment still had not arrived
Multiple sources noted property sales don’t often involve direct internet banking transfers to Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) as Ms Fajk was attempting.
‘It’s like saying, here, I’ll pay you – I’ve sent the money to EFTPOS,’ one source said, of the electronic card payment company.
A separate finance industry source clarified that while direct internet banking deposits such as this do happen, they are very rare.
The Hungarian-born Ballarat woman said there was an innocent explanation for what occurred.
‘As per my conveyancer’s instructions they were telegraphic transfers that take 3-5 days, as per ANZ’s website,’ she told the Daily Mail.
A conveyancer is a specialised expert who handles property sales and Ms Fajk said her’s has been dumped.
In social media posts, Ms Fajk has claimed the unnamed conveyancer was ‘clearly not up to this’ task.
Ms Fajk claimed she only received instructions for how to carry out The Block settlement the day before she allegedly wired across more than $4million.
‘Settlement and payments were delayed and I acknowledged this,’ she said.
Emese Fajk says she’s still hopeful she can fix the situation in the coming days
‘It was my mistake to trust other people without doing my own homework,’ she said.
‘I learned my lesson and I’m trying to rectify the situation.
‘Given the time of year and how certain things had to happen at the very last minute, this might take longer than I’d like.
‘But I’d like this resolved ASAP, within a few days.’ However, Nine still has not received the payments.
Executive producer Julian Cress said Jimmy and Tam are gutted.
Mr Cress was not hopeful that they would receive their $4.2million from Ms Fajk, and her contract is now void.
But Nine is hopeful of securing another buyer.
