Mr Get-Rich-Quick seeks your cash

by Briony Hale BBC News Online business reporter

An Australian millionaire is touring the UK claiming anyone can make enough money to retire within five years. BBC News Online went along to find out how to make those promised millions.

"My dread is that this will be MLM - multi level marketing," whispered Tony Walker, who is sitting next to me and looking nervous.

Three hours later he is happily signing a cheque for almost £2,000 in order to learn more about Warren Borsje's money-making strategies.

Warren Borsje: handsome, charming and with the gift of the gab

"We have a son with severe epilepsy," his wife Joyce confides in me later, "we're both near retirement age and we have to find a way of supporting him."

The man who persuaded the Walkers to part with their hard-earned cash is 28 year-old Warren Borsje - good-looking, a smooth talker, and a self-made millionaire.

Once a bum

The mood ahead of the event is nervous and suspicious, with the same question on everyone's lips - what's the catch?

But the instant Warren Borsje arrives, all smiles and charm, the audience is engaged by his personality and his inspiring rags-to-riches lifestory.

"I'm a bum, I left school at 13, gave up on a carpentry apprenticeship and became a full-time surfer with sponsorship from the dole," he says.

Job - that stands for Just Over Broke - and never ultimately leads to freedom

Warren Borsje

It's a diverse group of people - predominately male - from a wide range of backgrounds, including Nigeria, Lebanon and Kuwait.

I chat to an ex-agony aunt, two men running an autovalet supply business, a pin-stripe clad father and his teenage daughter, and a suited young man bashing away on his laptop.

Mr Borsje's motivation seems to come from a dislike of the work ethic.

The weekend course in money-making costs £2,490

"Job - that stands for Just Over Broke - and never ultimately leads to freedom."

"If you're working, you're paying tax, you're on a treadmill, in a rut," he says.

The ultimate goal, he says, is to be able to maintain the lifestyle you want to without having to work.

Mr Borsje, certainly seems to have a pleasant enough lifestyle, saying he lives in a villa in Cannes and holidays on speedboats off the coast of Thailand.

Shoulder massage

It's very very easy to make £20,000 within five weeks by doing a property trade

Warren Borsje

The magic money-making formula is two pronged: property and shares.

Successful investment in property, according to Mr Borsje, involves buying the right house at a bargain price and then arranging a revaluation and refinancing deal four weeks later.

"It's very very easy to make £20,000 within five weeks by doing a property trade," he says.

Nuggets of good advice are throw in, such as using landlord insurance to protect against bad tenants.

As the seminar progresses, the audience relaxes, laughing at the jokes, joining in group exercises - including massaging the shoulders of your neighbour - and eagerly asking questions.

"No worries if you haven't got any capital to get started," he says, "you just need access to OPM - Other People's Money."

Worryingly, his fluent patter includes the story of how he remortgaged his mother's house to make his own first step on the property ladder.

Two hours later, there's a brief coffee break, but almost everyone is tempted back by the promise of share trading with 100% returns guaranteed.

High-risk strategy

In what Mr Borsje calls "renting out shares," he gives a watered down description of options trading using the cartoon characters Fred and Tom.

"It's money for jam this strategy, you could lie on the beach and do it."

Another candidate signs on the dotted line

The feel good factor in the room is rising almost visibly, buoyed by the money-spinning potential.

Share trading to make quick bucks is normally perceived to be a high risk strategy, and options trading is among the most complicated and riskiest ways of doing it.

The explanation is clear, but there's a lot of key information lacking, and questions start pouring in from the floor.

"Don't worry," says Mr Borsje, "we'll go through all the information in detail at the weekend."

Special offer

Aha - at last there's the mention of the weekend - the item that this freebie seminar is selling.

"It's a programme which will change your financial future without a doubt," he says, presumably not referring to the £2,490 fee.

Every day you delay is costing you big, life is too darn short

Warren Borsje

"I know it's expensive, but you're going to get that back tenfold."

Coincidentally, Mr Borsje has already referred to a point in his own life when he was broke but chose to spend £3,000 on a financial- improvement course.

"If you really want to do it, you will find a way," he says, "Every day you delay is costing you big, life is too darn short."

Twenty-five out of the 85 people present signed up for the weekend course on the spot, winning a limited special offer, with others expected to sign-up after follow-up calls.

Simon Stimpson, an entrepreneur who lost £2m during the dot.com boom, is amongst those considering attending.

But while Mr Stimpson thinks he will pick up useful tips, he also has serious reservations.

"There are big risks," he says, "some people here seem to be desperate and that's a very dangerous place to be in when building an investment strategy."

I couldn't agree more: out of the handful of people I met, three had already been in the painful position of losing a business.

No worries

I put my fear that there will be financial casualties to Mr Borsje when the crowd has gone home.

"That's not a worry at all," he replies, " we teach them to follow the manual, it's very structural, with formulae."

Mr Borsje tells me he received a standing ovation when touring Manchester and Leeds last week.

The seminar ended in an undeniable atmosphere of euphoria, and the attendees went home feeling elated.

Call me a cynical journalist, but I left feeling depressed.

BBC News Online will monitor the financial progress of several participants on the weekend course in six months' time.