Much kinder blonde turn for Monte
Article published in SMH March 08
HE barely survived the wrath of Donatella Versace, but these days Sydney's most notorious private dick has another blonde on his mind.
Last Sunday night Frank Monte threw a lavish birthday party for his current squeeze, the Brisbane marketing executive Sharon Sargent, at the swanky spaghetti joint Otto Ristorante in Woolloomooloo.
The likes of the singer Leo Sayer, Double Bay cafe owner Graeme Goldberg, Sandy Gutman aka Austen Tayshus and a collection of "assorted blondes" attended, along with a slightly rounder Monte, who asked PS to "make me a bit slimmer on Photoshop". Sorry, Frank, the camera never lies.
"It was a way for me to introduce Sharon to Sydney and my friends. She is about to move in with me," a smitten Monte said.
Monte was still smarting over his last appearance in the Herald, in 2006, when it was reported he had opened up shop again after the NSW Supreme Court gave him back his private investigator's licence.
"I never lost it," Monte claimed, despite the Herald reporting the Police Commercial Agent and Private Inquiry Unit had cancelled his licence when Monte continued to promote his business regardless of a string of complaints against him dating back more than 20 years. A since-closed loophole in the law did not allow the police to cancel his licence on the grounds of bankruptcy.
The Versaces sued Monte for $400,000 in legal costs after his book The Spying Game claimed Gianni Versace was gunned down by the Mafia. He failed to pay, claiming he had only $6800 to his name. Getting facts straight is a problem for Monte, especially when it comes to his age.
"I'm 48 ... no, 49 ... um, I'm not really sure," he said, though officially he should be somewhere about 63.