Intelligent, good looking and charismatic, Hugo Rich had it all - except the patience to build the career at the top end of town that seemed to be his for the taking.

He has the businessman's eye for opportunity, the ego to believe he can pull off any deal and the determination to battle for years to win a point.

What he has always lacked is the common sense not to go bad. Police who know him say he has intelligence without wisdom and brains without judgement.

Rich had the talent to be a successful lawyer, businessman, stockbroker, computer software designer or legitimate importer. Instead he chose to become a career criminal, a prolific armed robber and a high-maintenance inmate. In and out of prison and court for decades, he is now set to be charged by the homicide squad over the murder of security guard Erwin Kastenberger, who was shot dead during an armed robbery at the Blackburn North shopping centre in March 8.

Police yesterday applied for a court order today to question Rich, who is in Port Phillip Prison after being charged with deception and firearm charges on May 12.

Rich, born Olaf Dietrich, was released from prison last October after his latest jail stint for armed robbery, contempt and threatening to kill a detective.

While most former inmates struggle to find work, Rich, a self-taught legal expert, set up his own city office almost immediately. Never shy, he named his firm H R Concepts and is said to have spent at least some of his time reviewing police briefs of evidence - a job that combined two of his many talents - his pedantic knowledge of the law and his lifelong experience of crime.

Rich wore a Trussardi jacket and a silk ski mask, similar to those worn by formula one drivers, during stick-ups."

Jailed for drug trafficking in 1986, he served five years but fought his conviction to the High Court. He argued that he was denied natural justice because his case was allowed to continue when he was not legally represented. Ultimately, his conviction was overturned and a nationwide precedent was established that an accused must have a lawyer in major trials. It resulted in legislative changes; legal students are now taught the consequences of the "Dietrich case".

But it was to be a moral victory for an immoral man. There would be no retrial because he had already served his time.

Olaf Dietrich was born in a German refugee camp in 1952 and came to Australia with his parents when he was nine. He left school at 14 to work in a grocery store, then a clothing shop, and became a window dresser. He married at 18 and had a baby daughter. He then became a successful insurance salesman but, after business turned bad, was declared bankrupt, owing $360,000.

Flowers mark the spot where Erwin Kastenberger was shot dead in Blackburn North.
Photo:Andrew de la Rue

When Dietrich was released on parole in April, 1990, he wanted to leave his past behind. He did it with a stroke of a pen: he changed his name to Hugo Rich and his criminal record disappeared.

A self-taught expert in the sharemarket, he talked his way into a job with one of Victoria's most prestigious firms, Vinton Smith Dougall. Criminal checks came up clean.

He joined the firm as a trainee adviser in July 1990 and was promoted the following month. He worked with the company until March 1991 as a client adviser.

He soon had the trappings of success, including the South Yarra luxury apartment, a wardrobe full of designer suits and a gold BMW - but one night he left the office owing $33,000 and simply didn't return.

Never short of a get-rich-quick idea, he then set up a new company, the 3B Corporation, to establish a sharemarket software program. Police say it stood for Bullshit Baffles Brains. But, in the deep end of the financial pool, he was drowning and returned to what he knew - armed robbery.

Always fashion conscious, Rich wore a Trussardi jacket and a silk ski mask, similar to those worn by formula one drivers, during the stick-ups.

Hours after robbing an Armaguard crew at Waverley Gardens of $98,000 he wandered into the exclusive jewellers, Kozminsky, and bought himself a present, a diamond ring valued at $17,000.

When he was arrested Rich promised a legal battle that would drag on for years. The committal hearing lasted 51 days. At his trial, Rich had to be removed from the court when he abused Judge Geoff Byrne.

Police say he is a violent, vindictive bully who has invariably been trapped by his raging ego. On August 9, 1995, while waiting for Judge Byrne to enter the court, Rich turned to Crown Prosecutor (later County Court Judge) Carolyn Douglas and said: "One chance - one f chance. Watch your back. Every time you turn the car on of yours . . . I'm telling you, OK. I don't care how long it takes, 25 years, bitch. I'll have a go at you. One go, that's all I want."