Even Clinton's Porn Friends Fall on Hard Times

Not a good time to be an FOB, apparently.

Internet porn made Greg Lasrado a millionaire. But failed deals and drugs have left him destitute, and now he could face jail, writes Eammon Duff.

Five years ago Greg Lasrado drove a $500,000 black Lamborghini Diablo, rubbed shoulders with high-powered people such as US president Bill Clinton, lived between multimillion-dollar penthouses and bought racehorses for fun. Today his sole asset is a rusty ute, he lives in his parents' spare bedroom and spends most weekends helping his mum with the housework.

During the 1990s, Lasrado went from being a university student drop-out to Australia's No.1 internet porn tycoon, accumulating a $60million fortune along the way. But an extravagant lifestyle and poor business management sent him on a downward spiral to a broken marriage, heroin addiction and, finally, bankruptcy.

Today Lasrado, 38, reveals for the first time his dramatic rise and fall as an international porn baron.

"Up until five years ago, I was living every man's dream," he told The Sun-Herald in a Brisbane restaurant last week. "I'd wake up on a day like today, have lunch, buy a car, then head to the airport and be in another country by the close of play.

"I was convinced it would last forever. Now, I've lost the lot. If you were to turn me upside down, 10 cents would not fall out of my pocket."

The Australian Tax Office is hot on his tail, chasing $5million, but Lasrado says that is "the least of my worries". If found guilty of dangerous driving charges in September he could find himself in jail, with even more time on his hands to reflect on how it all went wrong.