From the moment Joseph Ajaka, realised his lucrative Brazilian Butt Lift and liposuction business was the subject of a media investigation, he pulled out all the stops to kill or neuter the story.
The plan was hatched soon after Ajaka received a series of questions and saw a TV promo he suspected might not put him or Cosmos in a good light.
Giles built her reputation representing celebrities and politicians, including Christian Porter in his defamation action against the ABC, former backbencher and alleged lewd photographer Andrew Laming, and alleged fraudster Bill Pappas.Learning from the Lanzer playbook, she and barrister Sue Chrysanthou took another tack, arguing malicious falsehood in the Supreme Court of NSW to get an injunction or access to the draft story, all of which would buy time.
The order was made without knowing the contents of the story. Rothman saw the questions and a short TV promo, which didn’t mention the industry or Cosmos, but Chrysanthou “anticipate[d] will be quite sensational given the voice and the music that we heard”. A GP, priest, media contacts and friends, patients and plastic surgeons were contacted, some for “coffee”, some intimidated or emotionally blackmailed.
Journalists from other networks as well as inside Nine made calls to staff at 60 Minutes wanting to discuss the story. Some were known to be friendly with Cosmos or Ajaka. Curiously, the video of Ajaka performing liposuction while looking at the camera instead of the patient has also gone as well as a post he did after appearing on Sky News, where he said: “F---, I look good on TV. This is why I decided to start up my own clinic.”But one of the most troubling aspects of the delay to the story was that two patients ended up in hospital after complications at Cosmos in Sydney.