Thursday, March 5, 2009

Fancy crime doesn't pay

Bogus peer Hugh Rodley tried to pull off world’s biggest bank raid
A fake British aristocrat was convicted yesterday of playing a leading role in an audacious attempt to carry out the world’s biggest bank raid.

The gang of international criminals came close to stealing £229 million from a City bank by exploiting the high-tech security measures designed to protect money transfers. But the plot failed when a hacker into the system missed one set of numbers from an electronic form.
...
Details of the “bold and sophisticated” attack were untangled by the Serious Organised Crime Agency during a four-year investigation.
I don't know what's better, the idea I have in my head of a bank robber gearing up for a robbery by putting on a bowler, three piece suit, and monocle, that the UK has a crime division that has to announce that its serious in its title, or the fact that this robbery was foiled because after all the sophisticated hacking and planning they did, the crooks filled in some transfer forms incorrectly. Wait, I know, the fact that the fake Lord co-conspired with a sex shop owner. Or that the fake Lord was all mobbed up and got his fortune by scamming the shit out of people, forging documents, and with the sex shop guy made attempts to steal from the Royal Ballet, the Austrian Embassy, and scam Antwerp diamond dealers. The proceeds of some of his more recent scams going to fund his daughters riding careers and his fake Lord existence.

Alls well that ends well and the Special Fancy Crimes Section of Scotland Yard's Totally Serious Crimes of Stealing and Stuff Division were up to the task of noticing some forms didn't get filled out and a Japanese bank was saved from losing £229 million which they probably wouldn't have noticed because they've seen their profits in the last quarter fall by....say.....¥150 billion.

I'd read whatever you can find on this case, it's really one of the better crime stories you'll come across this year.

No comments: