- 7 months ago
Another episode of Crown Court. Robert Scard (Ray McAnally) is charged with fraud.
As well as the usual sterling performances by Richard Wilson, Alison Steadman (Abigail's Party) makes an early appearance. A couple of alumni from Doctor Who also appear in the form of Colin Jeavons (The Underwater Menace) and TP McKenna (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy).
As well as the usual sterling performances by Richard Wilson, Alison Steadman (Abigail's Party) makes an early appearance. A couple of alumni from Doctor Who also appear in the form of Colin Jeavons (The Underwater Menace) and TP McKenna (The Greatest Show in the Galaxy).
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00:00I want to come to the events of September the 2nd in a minute.
00:00:25Before I do that, there is one matter which might be important.
00:00:28Did you accompany the accused on a trip to Turkey?
00:00:31Yes.
00:00:32When was that?
00:00:33In July.
00:00:34Just after you had started working for him?
00:00:36Yes, third day I went in, he came in and said,
00:00:39Cheryl, get your passport, we've got to go to Turkey on business.
00:00:41Yes, and you did?
00:00:42Yes.
00:00:43Yes.
00:00:44Now, just tell me this, whilst you were in Turkey, did the accused do any business there?
00:00:48The nearest he got to doing any business was when a carpet dealer in the Grand Bazaar
00:00:52offered to swap me for a carpet.
00:00:55An offer which he didn't accept?
00:00:57Uh, no.
00:01:00Robert E. Scard stands indicted on two counts of obtaining money by deception.
00:01:05A Mrs. Margaret Wilde, a housewife, has given evidence that she was induced to invest £3,000
00:01:10in Scard's bank on the strength of his representations that in the previous year his group of companies
00:01:16had made profits of a quarter of a million pounds, that he anticipated profits would triple
00:01:20in the forthcoming year, and that he himself was making so much money he didn't know how
00:01:25to spend it.
00:01:26Cheryl Baker, Scard's former secretary, is the second witness for the prosecution.
00:01:31I see, but how do you know Mr. Scard did no business in Turkey?
00:01:35Presumably you went with him all the time?
00:01:38Well, I was with him all day from breakfast time.
00:01:40I don't see how he could have done any business.
00:01:42Well, not unless he went out after I'd gone to bed, and that was never before midnight.
00:01:46I see.
00:01:47Yes, Mr. Parsons.
00:01:48Thank you, my lord.
00:01:49Now, were you, say, Miss Baker, employed by the accused from about the middle of July
00:01:52to the 2nd of September, 1974?
00:01:54Yes, I was a temp for the first three weeks.
00:01:57Ah, you mean you were employed by a secretarial agency, and they hired out your services as
00:02:01a secretary to the accused.
00:02:02That's right, but he didn't pay the agency bills, so I had to leave them so I could stay
00:02:06on with him.
00:02:07Yes, I see.
00:02:08Now, just tell me this.
00:02:09Whilst you were working at the accused offices, did his companies appear to be trading profitably?
00:02:15You must be joking.
00:02:17You had to watch out in the morning when you opened the front door in case the post smothered
00:02:20You mean there was always a very large pile of mail?
00:02:24Ah, yes.
00:02:25Might that not have been a sign that the companies were busy?
00:02:28No way.
00:02:29They were all final demands, high court rates and county court summonses.
00:02:33Mm-hmm.
00:02:34So the business correspondence of the companies consisted mainly of letters and communications
00:02:39from creditors?
00:02:40Yes.
00:02:41Yes, I see.
00:02:43Now, were there any business files in the office?
00:02:47I mean, apart from files of bills?
00:02:51Not that I ever saw.
00:02:52Yeah.
00:02:54Now, let's come to the 2nd of September.
00:02:57Or perhaps let's just start with the previous Friday, August 30th.
00:03:02Did anything in particular happen that day?
00:03:05Yes, Mr. Scard asked me to prepare a summary of all the outstanding debts.
00:03:08Yes.
00:03:09Did you do that?
00:03:10Yes, I started on the Friday and I didn't finish till the Monday.
00:03:13Did anything happen over the weekend?
00:03:18Yes, Mr. Scard came round on the Sunday night.
00:03:20He said his wife had locked him out and could he stay the night.
00:03:23So I said he could sleep on the sofa.
00:03:25Yes.
00:03:25Did he say why his wife had locked him out?
00:03:27Yes, he said it was because the grocery store wouldn't give her any more credit.
00:03:31Oh.
00:03:32So you let him stay the night?
00:03:34Yes.
00:03:34Yes.
00:03:35And what happened on the Monday morning?
00:03:37First thing, I got noticed to quit the flat.
00:03:40You got noticed to quit your flat?
00:03:41Yes.
00:03:42Why?
00:03:42Hadn't you paid your rent?
00:03:44No.
00:03:45Why not?
00:03:46Because Mr. Scard hadn't paid any wages.
00:03:48But none at all?
00:03:49None.
00:03:50He kept saying there was some money coming in a few days and it was just a question of
00:03:54hanging on for a bit and making a few sacrifices, then we'd never have to worry about money ever
00:03:58again.
00:03:59Oh.
00:04:00Well, did you show him your notice to quit?
00:04:02Yeah, it was all his fault.
00:04:03What did he say?
00:04:04Oh, he said something would turn up and we'd pay it off that day.
00:04:07So I said, what if something doesn't turn up?
00:04:09And he said, oh, well, we can always eat the elephant.
00:04:13Eat the elephant?
00:04:14Oh, yeah.
00:04:15He was always going on about that.
00:04:17It was something to do with some people that had got so hungry they'd had to eat this circus
00:04:20elephant.
00:04:21Ah.
00:04:21Now, the siege of Paris, Mr. Parsons.
00:04:25Franco-Prussian War, 1871, you know.
00:04:28The elephant from the zoo, they ate it after everything else had been consumed, including
00:04:33the rats.
00:04:34Yes.
00:04:36What a blessing it is, my lord, that your lordship is here to make sense of all this for us.
00:04:41No, no, no, no, no, Mr. Parsons, come, come.
00:04:43That's an interesting little morsel of history.
00:04:46I'm obliged to your lordship.
00:04:49So, then, did you both go to the office?
00:04:52Er, no, we didn't, no, not as simple as that.
00:04:54No, the car ran out of petrol and I had to pay for some more.
00:04:57I thought you had no money.
00:04:59Oh, well, my mum had given me five pounds on the Saturday.
00:05:02Ah.
00:05:02So you gave, er, Mr. Scard some money and he would offer to get a can of petrol?
00:05:07No way.
00:05:07I went and got the petrol, he sat in the car.
00:05:10He said he was expecting an important telephone call from New York.
00:05:14Was the telephone in the car?
00:05:15Oh, yes.
00:05:17Why did you pay for the petrol?
00:05:19Well, he said he didn't have any money on him.
00:05:21Ah.
00:05:22But, er, eventually you got to work.
00:05:25Yes.
00:05:25And what happened there?
00:05:26Well, there was a letter from the electricity board saying that because the bill hadn't been
00:05:30paid, they were coming that day to cut the electricity off.
00:05:33Oh.
00:05:33Did you show that to the accused?
00:05:35Yes, and I asked him whether I should pay it.
00:05:37And what did he say?
00:05:38With what shall we pay it, dear Cheryl, dear Cheryl?
00:05:41With what shall we pay it, dear Cheryl?
00:05:43With what?
00:05:44So I asked him what I should do.
00:05:46He said to query the bill, and we'd already done that.
00:05:48So we said, well, send them a post-dated cheque.
00:05:51And we'd already done that.
00:05:52Hmm.
00:05:53So, er, what did you do with the electricity bill?
00:05:56Nothing.
00:05:56He said perhaps the man had fallen and break his leg.
00:05:58Well, er, can you remember any other letters you had that morning?
00:06:05Er, yes, there was one from the HP company about taking the car back, and the telephone
00:06:09people said they were going to cut the telephone off.
00:06:12He got a bit agitated about that.
00:06:13Yes.
00:06:14And what did he say?
00:06:15Oh, something about what more did they expect him to do, and hadn't he and his wife made
00:06:19sacrifices enough, and how was he going to manage without a telephone?
00:06:23So then he rang the telephone accounts manager, and he said that he'd sacked the person responsible
00:06:28for not paying the bill, and he'd personally see to it that a cheque was put in the post
00:06:31that day.
00:06:33Yes, so the telephone accounts manager agreed to postpone cutting off the telephone?
00:06:37Er, yes.
00:06:37Yes.
00:06:38Did you have any, er, telephone calls that morning?
00:06:42Er, yes, there was one from Mrs. Wilde.
00:06:44She rang to say she was coming in to get her money back.
00:06:46She'd paid for the Bulgarian coach tour.
00:06:48Oh, so one of Mr. Scard's company was a, was a travel agency?
00:06:52Yes.
00:06:52Sun Voyager's Personalised Magic, it was called.
00:06:56Ah.
00:06:57Hmm.
00:06:58Well, did you tell him about that?
00:07:00Yes.
00:07:01What did he say?
00:07:02Red alert, bandits at nine o'clock.
00:07:05What on earth did that mean?
00:07:07Oh, it was something to do with the Battle of Britain.
00:07:09He was always banging on about that.
00:07:11He used to be a Spitfire pilot, you see.
00:07:13I see.
00:07:13The expression signified some sort of emergency.
00:07:16Er, yes.
00:07:18Yes, were there any other calls?
00:07:20Er, there was one from America, I remember.
00:07:22Er, er, before that?
00:07:24Oh, Mr. Henriquez, you mean?
00:07:26Yes.
00:07:26Yes, he phoned to say he was coming in that day to see Mr. Scard about Mrs. Scard's overdraft.
00:07:31Yes, now, Mr. Henriquez is a bank manager.
00:07:33Er, yes.
00:07:34Yes, and what did the accused say when he heard that?
00:07:37He said he thought he'd scrap his life and start again.
00:07:39He was always saying that.
00:07:41Yes.
00:07:43Now, did you have any, er, visitors at the offices that morning?
00:07:47Er, Mrs. Wilde.
00:07:48Er, before that?
00:07:50Oh, the policeman, you mean?
00:07:51About the unpaid fines?
00:07:52Yes, whose fines?
00:07:53Er, Mr. Scard's driving offences.
00:07:55Yes.
00:07:55What did you do about them?
00:07:57Well, the policeman said he had a warrant to arrest Mr. Scard.
00:08:00I knew he was in the next office, so I phoned through and said,
00:08:03there's a policeman to see Mr. Scard, and was Mr. Scard there?
00:08:06He said he wasn't, and he didn't know when he'd be back,
00:08:08and suggests that the policeman call round at his home.
00:08:11Ah, so, er, you spoke to Mr. Scard, and Mr. Scard said,
00:08:16Mr. Scard isn't in.
00:08:17I suggest the policeman go to Mr. Scard's home.
00:08:19That's right.
00:08:21And did it work?
00:08:22What?
00:08:24Well, did the policeman go away?
00:08:25Oh, yes.
00:08:26So, what happened next?
00:08:28Er, I finished the figures.
00:08:30Yes, and what did they show?
00:08:32There were writs and summonses out for over £12,000.
00:08:35That seems a large sum for, what, office expenses?
00:08:39Well, the telephone was £1,000 a quarter.
00:08:42The rent was £4,000 a year, and that never got paid.
00:08:45Then there was telex, office furniture, printing,
00:08:47and he was always making these trips to the Far East on the never-never.
00:08:51What, air tickets on credit?
00:08:52That's right.
00:08:53Mm-hmm.
00:08:54I see, yes, Mr. Scard?
00:08:55How much of this £12,000 related to the year
00:08:57ending the 31st of July, 1974, do you remember?
00:09:00All except a few hundred.
00:09:02Yes, and how much did Mr. Scard have
00:09:04in the bank accounts of his various companies?
00:09:07Just over a couple of hundred.
00:09:09Yes.
00:09:10Did you show that summary to the accused?
00:09:13Yes.
00:09:14What did he say?
00:09:16Crumbs.
00:09:18Just crumbs?
00:09:19Yes.
00:09:21I see.
00:09:22Then what?
00:09:23Oh, then he asked me to take down some dictation.
00:09:26Yes, and did you?
00:09:27Yes.
00:09:27Yes.
00:09:28May the witness be shown in Exhibit 1, please.
00:09:33Now, have you seen that document before, Ms. Baker?
00:09:37Yes, I typed it.
00:09:38That's what he dictated.
00:09:39Well, let's just examine it, shall we?
00:09:41Er, may I see a copy, please?
00:09:43Yes, of course.
00:09:44Mr. Canty, have you a copy of your client?
00:09:46Yes, ma'am.
00:09:52That's very kind.
00:09:55Er, in a difficult year, which has witnessed the crash of many old established names,
00:10:01the group can look on the trading profit of 250,000 pounds with some satisfaction.
00:10:06Now, Ms. Baker, from what you could see of the business of the companies, was a trading
00:10:11profit of 250,000 pounds?
00:10:14No.
00:10:15Like I said, there was near enough 12,000 pounds of debts in Ritz and Summerses alone still outstanding
00:10:20from them.
00:10:20Yes.
00:10:22It is estimated that profits will triple in the forthcoming financial year.
00:10:28Now, as far as you are aware, Ms. Baker, were any of the companies doing the sort of business
00:10:31that might induce a profit of three-quarters of a million pounds?
00:10:35All I know is we spent all our time staving off creditors.
00:10:38Yes.
00:10:40Did you ever see any of the accounts for any of the companies?
00:10:44No, never.
00:10:45No.
00:10:46Now, when you typed this document, Ms. Baker, did you have a particular conversation with
00:10:51the accused?
00:10:52Yes.
00:10:53I said, as he was doing so nicely, and there was a couple of hundred in the bank, perhaps
00:10:56he'd like to write me a cheque for my wages so I could pay the rent.
00:10:59Yes, and what did he say?
00:11:00Oh, he said he needed what was in the bank to pay his wife's grocery bill.
00:11:04Oh.
00:11:04Was it then that you decided to leave his employment?
00:11:08Yeah, it was the last straw.
00:11:10What time was there?
00:11:11About midday.
00:11:13Yes.
00:11:13Did anything happen before you left?
00:11:15Yes, Mrs. Wilde came in, and I had to go in the office to get me coke.
00:11:19Yes, was Mrs. Wilde and Mr. Scard talking?
00:11:21Yes.
00:11:22Can you remember what they said whilst you were in the office?
00:11:25Yes, he said, Cheryl, Christopher bought Mrs. Wilde's holiday with a lousy Lichtenstein
00:11:30company that was no good.
00:11:31Tell him he's sacked.
00:11:33Who was Christopher?
00:11:34I suppose you might call him an office boy.
00:11:36Ah.
00:11:37Did he say anything else?
00:11:38Yes, just before that.
00:11:40He said to her he was making so much money that he didn't know what to do with it.
00:11:43So on the very same day as all these other events you've described to us, he told Mrs.
00:11:49Wilde that he was making so much money he didn't know what to do with it.
00:11:53Yeah.
00:11:54I began to wonder if I was hearing things.
00:11:56Mm-hmm.
00:11:56Miss Baker, you were, of course, until he rejected you, Mr. Scard's mistress.
00:12:12He only slept with me the once.
00:12:14On Sunday, the 1st of September?
00:12:16Yes.
00:12:17And then both you and he parted on that Monday you've given us so much evidence about on bad
00:12:21terms, at least on your side.
00:12:23And wouldn't you?
00:12:24He comes round on a Sunday night and says his wife's locked him out and can he stay the
00:12:28night?
00:12:28It's midnight and it's pouring with rain so I can't say no.
00:12:32I offer him the sofa, which he accepts.
00:12:34But once Mr. Scard's in the door, the sofa's not good enough for him.
00:12:37He says, oh, he's got a bad back and would I mind if he just sleeps on the bed, as he's
00:12:41not going to touch an old friend like me.
00:12:44But Mr. Scard never sticks to a word he says.
00:12:46So the next thing is, he says his arm's cold and would I mind if he just puts it under the
00:12:50bedclothes?
00:12:51Yes, well, without going into the details, I mean, you're not enamoured with him now.
00:12:53So are you, in fact, quite the reverse.
00:12:55And why not?
00:12:56I don't like his attitude.
00:12:57Oh, I'm very grateful to you, Cheryl, for sheltering me and sleeping with me.
00:13:01But does that mean I have to love you as well?
00:13:03Love should come first.
00:13:06Quite, Miss Baker.
00:13:06And it's precisely because you feel so indignant about what you conceive to be Mr. Scard's
00:13:12misbehaviour that you have allowed yourself to give such a false impression of his affairs
00:13:15here today.
00:13:16What's false?
00:13:17Well, for example, your evidence was calculated to show that my client, Mr. Scard, was not
00:13:22doing any business.
00:13:23But the truth of the matter is that he was doing a great deal of business, was he not?
00:13:27Mainly over the telephone.
00:13:28If you ask me whether he was always on the telephone, the answer's yes.
00:13:31Then for another thing, you made him out to be penniless.
00:13:35But he took you to Istanbul for a fortnight, did he not, Miss Baker?
00:13:39I wouldn't mind betting that was all on his American Express card.
00:13:42But I had to pay whenever anything had to be done in cash.
00:13:45But in fact, you don't know how he paid, do you?
00:13:49No, I don't.
00:13:50No.
00:13:51He gave you a fur coat.
00:13:53That was all part of the softening up.
00:13:54He was planning to get me into bed all along.
00:13:56Oh, but he gave it to you, Miss Baker.
00:14:00Yes.
00:14:01He paid for you and your mother to go to London and have your hair done at Vidal Sassoon's?
00:14:04No.
00:14:05Well, did not you and your mother go to Vidal Sassoon's in London?
00:14:10Yes, we did.
00:14:11And neither you nor she had to pay.
00:14:13The hairdos were a prizy one and a ruffle at a charity dance.
00:14:16Ah, yes, that's what he said initially, to disguise his generosity.
00:14:20But later you learned, did you not, that he had in fact paid for that hairdo out of his own pocket.
00:14:27Oh, yeah, that's what he said when he was in my flat, but that was all part of the softening up.
00:14:30I have no means of knowing, have you, that that is not the truth.
00:14:33How am I supposed to know when he says so many different things?
00:14:36Mr. Canty, will you, in due course, be producing a cheque or a receipt or some evidence of that kind
00:14:41to show that your client did pay for these ladies to have their hair done out of his own pocket?
00:14:47If I may can take instructions on that point, Lord.
00:14:49Of course.
00:14:54Sorry.
00:14:56I'm afraid not, my lord.
00:14:58This was all, of course, quite a long time ago, and it was not the kind of transaction
00:15:01that one would normally bother to keep a record on.
00:15:03Oh.
00:15:04Now, Miss Baker.
00:15:06Mr. Scott also owned and drove a Rose Royce, did he not?
00:15:11That was on HP.
00:15:12How do you know?
00:15:14It was the one we got the letter about.
00:15:15Oh, no, I'm afraid not, Miss Baker.
00:15:17I'm afraid not.
00:15:17That letter related to my client's wife's car.
00:15:19Perhaps you didn't look at the higher purchase agreement to which the letter related?
00:15:23No, I didn't.
00:15:25No.
00:15:26And tell me, while you were working with the scar group of companies, was a judgment ever
00:15:30executed?
00:15:32I mean, were any of the services, electricity, telephone, telex, were they ever cut off?
00:15:40No.
00:15:40No.
00:15:41In fact, Miss Baker, you have no way of knowing, have you, whether my client's companies were
00:15:46genuinely penniless, or whether he was simply mean, or that he was deliberately delaying
00:15:51payments as long as possible as a matter of commercial practice.
00:15:58What is your full name?
00:16:01Nigel James Henriquez.
00:16:02And where do you live?
00:16:03The Thicket's absolutely Fulchester.
00:16:04And you're a bank manager, Mr. Henriquez?
00:16:06Yes.
00:16:07In Fulchester.
00:16:07Now, is it right that you and your wife met the accused, Robert Scard, and his wife, at
00:16:12about the beginning of 1974?
00:16:15Yes.
00:16:15We met at a cocktail party given by the prospective Tory candidate.
00:16:18Yes.
00:16:18How was he accused introduced to you?
00:16:21A banker to Fulchester's answer to Britain's economic crisis.
00:16:25Yes.
00:16:25And did the accused dissent from that introduction?
00:16:28Dissent?
00:16:28No.
00:16:28He said he'd be moving into Europe soon.
00:16:31Didn't it seem odd to you that a merchant banker of substance should choose to set up in
00:16:35Fulchester?
00:16:35I did ask, my lord.
00:16:37He said that the city boardrooms were full of winos.
00:16:41Winos?
00:16:43Um, a colloquial term, my lord, for those Dianites who live about the streets in a perpetual
00:16:48state of drunkenness.
00:16:50Oh.
00:16:51He was suggesting that the men in the city who direct the nation's trade and commerce live
00:16:56in a perpetual state of drunkenness.
00:16:58Yes, my lord.
00:16:59He said they get to work at 11, they go to the pub at 12, they get back from lunch at
00:17:04four and then sleep until it's time to go home at 5.30.
00:17:07Ah.
00:17:07The implication was that he felt out of place in the city.
00:17:10Uh, yes.
00:17:11That's what he said.
00:17:11I see.
00:17:13Yes, Mr. Farson.
00:17:14My lord.
00:17:15And thereafter, did you continue to meet socially?
00:17:17Uh, yes, we did.
00:17:18Yes.
00:17:19And subsequently, did Mrs. Scard open an account at your bank?
00:17:23Yes.
00:17:23Yes.
00:17:24And on September the 2nd, 1974, did you visit the accused in relation to that account?
00:17:30Yes.
00:17:30Elizabeth was always, uh, Mrs. Scard was always overdrawn.
00:17:34Yes.
00:17:34And did you discuss this and move on to other topics?
00:17:37Yes.
00:17:38I asked about business and he said, and these are his exact words, we don't seem to be in
00:17:43the draft like everyone else.
00:17:45I guess it's a question of sufficient diversification.
00:17:48He said that he personally was making so much money he didn't know how to spend it.
00:17:51Hmm.
00:17:51Uh, may the witness be shown in Exhibit 1, please?
00:17:56Now, have you ever seen this document before, Mr. Henrikis?
00:18:00Oh, yes.
00:18:00He showed it to me that day.
00:18:01He said they were thinking of introducing new equity-linked deposit accounts.
00:18:05Yes.
00:18:06Did you ask him about them?
00:18:07Yes.
00:18:08I asked him what return one might expect and he said, oh, we think it might be as much as
00:18:1125%.
00:18:12Yes.
00:18:13And as a result of what you learned, did you consider making an investment in his bank?
00:18:18Yes, I did.
00:18:19Yes.
00:18:19Now, Mr. Henrikis, was anything else said that day?
00:18:22No.
00:18:23No.
00:18:24So what was the next thing that happened in this connection?
00:18:27On, uh, September the 5th, I received a box of cigars from him with a letter.
00:18:33Yes.
00:18:33May he be shown Exhibit 2, please?
00:18:35Is this the letter, Mr. Henrikis?
00:18:40Oh, yes.
00:18:41Uh, and there was a jury in your bundle marked document 2.
00:18:44Uh, could you read it, uh, for us, Mr. Henrikis, please?
00:18:47Yes.
00:18:48Uh, dear Nigel, please accept the cigars as a token of my regret over Lizzie's bloody-mindedness
00:18:54about money.
00:18:54I have actioned her into selling some shares.
00:18:58Let me take the opportunity to tell you the good news.
00:19:02Since I spoke to you, affairs have taken another turn for the better.
00:19:05The Shower of Persia has appointed the group purchasing agents on the basis that we receive
00:19:09a quarter percent on all purchases.
00:19:11We anticipate commissions for a vast range of goods, the first one for machine tools and
00:19:17military equipment soon.
00:19:18Yours, Robert Iskamp.
00:19:19Yes, thank you.
00:19:20Now, what was the next event?
00:19:22Uh, the following day, September the 6th, he deposited £25,000 at the bank.
00:19:29At your bank?
00:19:30Yes.
00:19:30Yes.
00:19:31And did you do anything?
00:19:33Yes.
00:19:34A few days later, on September the 9th, I sent him a cheque for £7,000 as an investment
00:19:40in his so-called bank.
00:19:41Yes, sir.
00:19:42That was your own money?
00:19:43Yes.
00:19:44My wife's and mine.
00:19:45Yes.
00:19:45Now, what had decided you to make this investment?
00:19:47What he'd stated and what is in those exhibits.
00:19:50Yes.
00:19:50You believed all these statements to be true.
00:19:52Yes, I did.
00:19:53Yes.
00:19:54And what happened next?
00:19:56On September the 15th, he closed his deposit account with us.
00:20:01Yes.
00:20:01How was the money deposited, repaid?
00:20:03By banker's draft.
00:20:04How much?
00:20:06The computer made a mistake.
00:20:08The draft was for £30,000.
00:20:10It was £5,000 in error.
00:20:11Ah, so the scarred bank received £5,000 belonging to your bank by mistake.
00:20:17Yes.
00:20:18I telephoned him about it when I discovered the mistake a few days later.
00:20:21He promised to have it repaid.
00:20:22Yes, was it repaid?
00:20:23No.
00:20:24Well, did you speak to him about it again?
00:20:27Oh, frequently.
00:20:28What was his reaction?
00:20:29Well, he's very apologetic to begin with.
00:20:31He said he'd given orders for it to be repaid, that he'd take it up with accounts.
00:20:36He said someone had been ill.
00:20:38I see.
00:20:39Now, did you do something else in November in relation to Mr. Scard's bank?
00:20:44Yes.
00:20:45I had to go to head office.
00:20:47And whilst in London, I called the company's house and searched the register for Robert E. Scard Banking Limited.
00:20:53Yes, and what did you find?
00:20:54No annual returns had ever been made.
00:20:56Yes, and yet, as we've seen in Exhibit 1, the accused claimed the group had made a profit of £250,000 in 1974, the bulk of that coming from the banking division.
00:21:08Yes.
00:21:09Yes.
00:21:10So what did you do next in relation to this matter?
00:21:12On November the 15th, I called again at his offices.
00:21:17I told him that I'd been to company's house and that there was no annual return for 1974.
00:21:21Yes.
00:21:21And he, what did he say?
00:21:24He had one of those intercoms on his desk.
00:21:26He switched a switch and he appeared to speak over the intercom.
00:21:30Why do you say appeared?
00:21:32Because I do not know whether there was anyone at the other end.
00:21:36I see.
00:21:38Well, what did he say over, or to, the intercom?
00:21:42He said, scarred here.
00:21:43Tell the company secretary he's sacked.
00:21:45He hasn't been doing his job.
00:21:47Was there any reply to that?
00:21:48No.
00:21:49No.
00:21:50Then what happened next?
00:21:51I asked to see the accounts for 1974.
00:21:54Did he show them to you?
00:21:55No.
00:21:56He said, come on now, Nige.
00:21:59My name is Nigel.
00:22:01You're not even a shareholder.
00:22:03You know I can't go showing the accounts around.
00:22:05I said they should be in company's house where anybody could see them.
00:22:08Yes, and he?
00:22:09He said, agreed, Nige, agreed.
00:22:10But what can I do if the dumb shit company secretary doesn't do his job?
00:22:16Were you angry?
00:22:18Yes.
00:22:19Yes.
00:22:19So then what?
00:22:20I said I wanted to withdraw my deposit.
00:22:23He said I'd have to give six months' notice.
00:22:25He said that was on the document I'd signed when I made the deposit.
00:22:27And was it?
00:22:29Yes.
00:22:30I hadn't read it properly.
00:22:31I thought I was dealing with a friend.
00:22:33I said if he didn't pay it back in seven days, he'd be sorry.
00:22:37Did you say why?
00:22:39No.
00:22:39He said, oh, come on now, Nige.
00:22:42Calm down before you say something you'll regret.
00:22:44You know I can't go handing back deposits in breach of the agreed terms.
00:22:48I asked him what he'd done with the money.
00:22:51Did he say?
00:22:52He said, now let's see, Nige.
00:22:54Ah, yes.
00:22:55That went as part of a loan to the Bakir Dolmuzh cooperative in Istanbul.
00:22:59I asked him what security he'd taken.
00:23:03And what security had he taken, did he say?
00:23:06The word of a Turkish gentleman.
00:23:08I said he'd got no right to go around risking people's money in that way.
00:23:12Did he reply to that?
00:23:14Yes.
00:23:16He called me a mental pygmy.
00:23:18The jury in this case is comprised of members of the general public.
00:23:40The Queen against Scarred will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.
00:23:48The Queen against Scarred will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.
00:24:18Robert E. Scarred has been charged with fraud.
00:24:26At his trial, his former secretary has given evidence
00:24:29that whilst she was working for him, his companies appeared penniless
00:24:32and that they spent the whole time staving off creditors.
00:24:35Nigel Henriquez has related how he invested some £7,000 in Scarred's bank
00:24:40as a result of being told that in the previous year,
00:24:43Scarred's group of companies had made a profit of a quarter of a million pounds.
00:24:46The profits were forecast to triple in the forthcoming year,
00:24:50that the group had been appointed purchasing agents for the Shah of Persia,
00:24:53and that Scarred himself was making so much money that he didn't know how to spend it.
00:24:57All these representations are alleged by the prosecution to have been untrue.
00:25:02Henriquez is still giving his evidence in chief.
00:25:04He called me a mental pygmy.
00:25:08He said the trouble with this country was that the adventurers who'd made it great
00:25:11had been replaced by what he called snivellers like me,
00:25:14bank managers, civil servants and the like,
00:25:17people who were too cowardly to make anything out of life themselves, he said.
00:25:22What did you say?
00:25:23Nothing. I walked out.
00:25:24Mr. Henriquez, you have a remarkable memory, if I may say so,
00:25:28if you can remember the very words that Mr. Scarred used after all this time.
00:25:32I do have a naturally good memory for these things, my lord,
00:25:35and I have thought a great deal about all this in the past few months.
00:25:38I see. Yes.
00:25:40Yes, Mr. Parsons.
00:25:41Did you subsequently take any other steps in connection with this Turkish loan?
00:25:46Yes. I took my Christmas holiday in Istanbul.
00:25:50Well, specifically to make inquiries about this company,
00:25:52Mr. Scarred recommended the, what's it called, the Bakir Dolmush Company?
00:25:57Yes, my lord.
00:25:58My wife and I had planned a skiing holiday.
00:26:00It was something we'd always wanted to do,
00:26:01but we felt that this was more important.
00:26:05Mm-hmm.
00:26:05Yes.
00:26:05And what did you discover?
00:26:08That a Dolmush is a kind of communal taxi.
00:26:10Yes.
00:26:11But you did visit the address that Mr. Scarred had given you.
00:26:15Oh, yes.
00:26:16No one there had ever heard of the Bakir Dolmush Cooperative.
00:26:19What was the address Mr. Scarred gave you?
00:26:24Well, I don't know how to pronounce it,
00:26:25but it's spelt K-A-P-A-L-I-C-A-R-S-I.
00:26:31Well, if you don't mind, perhaps I can assist.
00:26:33It's pronounced Kapalajarasi Kadasi.
00:26:36Thank you, Mr. Scarred.
00:26:38Now, I'd be obliged to refrain from speaking in this,
00:26:40or spoken to.
00:26:41Oh.
00:26:42I was only trying to be helpful, my lord.
00:26:44You'll assist best by saying nothing until the appropriate time.
00:26:48Yes, Mr. Parsons.
00:26:48Thank you, my lord.
00:26:49Did Mr. Scarred tell you what building in the street
00:26:52was occupied by this company?
00:26:54Oh, yes.
00:26:54One hundred and six.
00:26:55Yes.
00:26:56But no one there had heard of the Bakir Dolmush Cooperative?
00:26:59No.
00:27:00No.
00:27:00So what other steps did you take?
00:27:03On behalf of my bank, I instigated legal proceedings
00:27:06for the return of the £5,000 overpaid in error.
00:27:09Yes.
00:27:09And was the judgment for that obtained on May the 10th, 1975?
00:27:15Uh, yes.
00:27:16Yes.
00:27:17Now, after that, did you have any further communication with the accused?
00:27:20Yes.
00:27:21On May the 15th, I phoned up and asked for the return of my deposit
00:27:25since the six months' notice had expired.
00:27:27Yes.
00:27:27What did he say?
00:27:29He said, I wouldn't get it.
00:27:31He said, the money was somewhere, no one could get at it.
00:27:34You say, he said, the money was somewhere, no one could get at it.
00:27:39Yes.
00:27:40Hmm.
00:27:41Now, I believe I'm right in saying that the judgment against the accused bank
00:27:44was not satisfied and that the bank was put into liquidation.
00:27:48Yes.
00:27:48On May 20th.
00:27:50Yes.
00:27:51And did you act in close cooperation with the official liquidator?
00:27:54Yes, I did.
00:27:54And did you visit the accused, uh, premises and, uh, take charge of his banking records?
00:28:00Yes.
00:28:00Yes.
00:28:01May the witness be shown in Exhibit 3, please.
00:28:05Now, uh, does this bundle contain documents you found at the bank premises, Mr. Henrichis?
00:28:11Yes.
00:28:12We found very little apart from a few bank statements.
00:28:14What do these bank statements show?
00:28:16That on May the 15th, the date on which I telephoned the accused,
00:28:20um, about the return of my deposit,
00:28:23his bank's only asset was a 15 pence credit on a deposit account for the National Westminster Bank.
00:28:29Yes.
00:28:29Did you find any accounts for the year ending July, 1974,
00:28:34the year you were informed the group had made a profit of 250,000 pounds?
00:28:38No.
00:28:39It appeared that in 1974 about 5,000 pounds had passed through the bank's accounts.
00:28:44At the end of that year, there were, um, uh, debts of about 12,000 pounds.
00:28:49These had been paid off after the end of the year.
00:28:52Yes.
00:28:52But do these accounts also show, however, that in November 1974,
00:28:57uh, the accused bank did, in fact, have undeposited various other banks
00:29:01some 200,000 pounds belonging to yourself and other depositors?
00:29:06Yes.
00:29:07Yes.
00:29:08And what else did these statements show?
00:29:10That in December, all that money had been withdrawn.
00:29:13Yes.
00:29:14Could you ascertain where that 200,000 pounds had gone?
00:29:18No, it's vanished.
00:29:19Hmm.
00:29:20Did you find any records of any business from which profits of
00:29:23three quarters of a million pounds might be made?
00:29:27You found no trace of any business dealings at all.
00:29:29So the picture shown by the available records is of some 200,000 pounds
00:29:35accumulated by the bank from various depositors, like yourself,
00:29:39and the 200,000 pounds vanished, and there was no evidence of any trading
00:29:43or profits at all.
00:29:44Exactly, my lord.
00:29:46Leaving no assets whatsoever?
00:29:48Of 15 pence, my lord.
00:29:50Hmm.
00:29:51Yes.
00:29:51Did you find any evidence that the accused or any member of his companies
00:29:55had ever been appointed agent or acted as agent for the Persian government?
00:29:59None whatever.
00:30:00No.
00:30:02Thank you, Mr. Henriquez.
00:30:03Wait there, will you?
00:30:06When Mr. Scott told you on the 2nd of September
00:30:09that he was making so much money that he didn't know how to spend it,
00:30:14did you make any comment at all?
00:30:17No.
00:30:18But at that time, his wife's account was already 1,000 pounds overdrawn for three months,
00:30:23and you had already spoken to him about that.
00:30:26Yes.
00:30:27Yes, yes.
00:30:28And when you went to his office on the 2nd of September,
00:30:29it was, was it not yet again to speak to him about his wife's overdraft?
00:30:34Yes.
00:30:35And you were saying that he claimed to be making so much money
00:30:37that he didn't know how to spend it,
00:30:39and that you, that you said nothing.
00:30:42I mean, did you say nothing to him about his wife's overdraft?
00:30:44Did you not say, for example,
00:30:46how come if you're paying, if you're making so much money
00:30:48that you don't pay off your wife's overdraft?
00:30:50Mr. Scard can be extremely charming.
00:30:54The first time I spoke to him, he said he was sorry his wife had been giving me so much trouble
00:30:59he'd get her to sell some shares and pay it off.
00:31:01When I spoke to him about it on the 2nd of September,
00:31:04his attitude was,
00:31:05Oh, hasn't she done it?
00:31:07Women are the devil, Nige.
00:31:09Women are the devil.
00:31:10So at the time you deposited your 7,000 pounds of the accused bank,
00:31:15you believed he was a man of substance?
00:31:17Yes, I did, no.
00:31:18Yes, I see.
00:31:19Come now, Mr. Henriquez,
00:31:20this claim of yours and a Mrs. Wilde.
00:31:23Mr. Scard told you that he was making so much money
00:31:26that he didn't know how to spend it.
00:31:28That was something you cooked up together, wasn't it?
00:31:30That's what he said.
00:31:31Those are his exact words.
00:31:33The truth is, is it not, Mr. Henriquez,
00:31:35that Mr. Scard told you that his investments were unconventional,
00:31:39but that big profits could only be gleaned in high-risk areas?
00:31:43High-risk areas?
00:31:44Most decidedly not.
00:31:45And yet you, out of a desire for a quick profit,
00:31:48decided to go ahead.
00:31:49Tell me, Mr. Henriquez,
00:31:52what sound investments did you, a bank manager,
00:31:56expect to give an annual return of 25%?
00:32:00I don't know. There are some.
00:32:01Mr. Henriquez, what sound investments do you know of
00:32:04which will give a return of that order?
00:32:09None.
00:32:11Exactly.
00:32:12None.
00:32:14Now, you went to my client's office before the liquidator,
00:32:18did you not, with one of his clerks?
00:32:20Before the liquidator?
00:32:21Yes.
00:32:22Did you take that opportunity to take away,
00:32:23to destroy or suppress the bulk of my client's files?
00:32:26He said that.
00:32:27He'd have to, wouldn't he?
00:32:29There were no records that he'd been doing any business at all.
00:32:33These were complete lies.
00:32:34Now, Mr. Henriquez,
00:32:35it was you, was it not,
00:32:36who first made a complaint to the police about my client.
00:32:40Yes, I believe it was, yes.
00:32:42Yes, and in fact,
00:32:42you regard this prosecution, do you not,
00:32:44as being in the nature of a crusade.
00:32:47You ask me whether I see it as a crusade,
00:32:50a campaign against evil, I suppose.
00:32:53That's all right, yes.
00:32:54I want to see justice done.
00:32:56I see.
00:32:58You were friends once.
00:33:00What are your feelings about him now?
00:33:03You've asked me what I feel.
00:33:06Pity.
00:33:07I pity him.
00:33:09I feel deeply sorry for his wife.
00:33:10I'm sorry she has to sit through all this.
00:33:12Pity?
00:33:13You loathe him, don't you?
00:33:16Loathe him?
00:33:17No.
00:33:18No, I feel pity for him.
00:33:20Pity?
00:33:21But he had an affair with your wife, did you not?
00:33:22No, he did not.
00:33:25He said that.
00:33:26He said that in a scurrilous letter he wrote in November
00:33:28after I'd returned one of his wife's checks.
00:33:30It is a scurrilous lie.
00:33:32I see.
00:33:32So you don't believe that your wife had an affair with my client?
00:33:35She did not.
00:33:37She's sitting there.
00:33:37You ask her, I tell you, she did not.
00:33:39But you have been, shall I say, outraged by a letter he sent to you.
00:33:42Do you, by the way, still have that letter?
00:33:44Most certainly not.
00:33:46It was the most scurrilous thing I'd ever read.
00:33:49He said she should have psychiatric treatment.
00:33:53Never mind the details, Mr. Henriquez.
00:33:54Just tell us...
00:33:55No, no, no, no.
00:33:55Let him say what he said if he wants to,
00:33:58since you've asked about it.
00:34:00Very well, my lord.
00:34:02He said he was writing out of concern for her.
00:34:06He said I should see to it she had psychiatric treatment.
00:34:09He said they'd gone to bed together
00:34:10and she hadn't been able to go through with it with him or me
00:34:13because she was in love with another man,
00:34:14a man who was over 70.
00:34:17And all that is untrue?
00:34:18It is obscenely untrue.
00:34:21And you still say that your only feeling for my client
00:34:24is one of pity?
00:34:27Pity?
00:34:28Most decidedly.
00:34:30He's the one in need of psychiatric help.
00:34:36Yes.
00:34:37Robert E. Scard.
00:34:47What does the E stand for, Mr. Scard?
00:34:49It doesn't, my lord.
00:34:51I myself inserted it to give the name a little more balance.
00:34:56Self-presentation is very important,
00:34:58especially if you're working in the U.S.
00:34:59But you can leave it out if it's any trouble.
00:35:02No, no, no, no.
00:35:03You style yourself Robert E. Scard.
00:35:04That's the name that will go on the record.
00:35:06Yes, Mr. Canty?
00:35:07Thank you, my lord.
00:35:08Well, just tell me this, Mr. Scard.
00:35:10Have you ever been convicted of any criminal offence?
00:35:14That is, other than a motoring offence?
00:35:16No, sir.
00:35:16No way.
00:35:17Right.
00:35:17Well, let's come straight away to the evidence
00:35:19of Mrs. Wilde and Mr. Henriquez.
00:35:22You did show that this document, that is,
00:35:24Exhibit 1,
00:35:25the annual report for your group of companies
00:35:27for the year ending the 31st of July, 1974.
00:35:30Of course we did.
00:35:31Mr. Henriquez and Mrs. Wilde are quite right about that.
00:35:34We?
00:35:35Yes, my lord.
00:35:35The bank.
00:35:37But you were the one who actually handed the document over.
00:35:40Absolutely, my lord.
00:35:41But on behalf of the bank.
00:35:43Just tell us what you did, will you please, Mr. Scard?
00:35:45Of course, my lord.
00:35:46Of course, I understand.
00:35:48But it's just that legally, you see,
00:35:49it was an agency situation.
00:35:52Let's take the various statements in this document one by one.
00:35:56In a difficult year which has witnessed
00:35:57the crash of many old established names,
00:36:00the group can look on the trading profit of £250,000
00:36:03with some satisfaction.
00:36:05Now, firstly, what does or did your group consist of?
00:36:09Well, if I may say so with respect,
00:36:12it's a misnomer to call it my group.
00:36:16I was just one of the shareholders
00:36:17and only one of the officers of the various companies concerned.
00:36:20I think it's very important to get that in perspective.
00:36:22Yes, of course.
00:36:23Perhaps you would explain to us how the group was composed.
00:36:26Yes, well, Finance, the bank.
00:36:28Robert E. Scard, Banking Limited.
00:36:31Yes.
00:36:31Robert E. Scard, Resources Limited.
00:36:34Mineral and other resources?
00:36:36Yes.
00:36:37Trading, Robert E. Scard, Trading Limited.
00:36:39Property, Robert E. Scard, Property Limited.
00:36:43Retailing Division, Robert E. Scard, Retailing Limited.
00:36:46Were these companies all trading at all times material to these proceedings?
00:36:50100% correct, yes.
00:36:51Now, in this document, it is stated that the group made a profit of £250,000 in the year
00:36:56ending the 31st of July, 1974.
00:37:00Was that true?
00:37:02Absolutely.
00:37:03Did the companies in the group have auditors?
00:37:05Yes, Mr. Svensson, of Svensson & Smith, the Chartered Accountants.
00:37:09And were details and records of all the activities of the group submitted to Mr. Svensson?
00:37:14Yes.
00:37:15And did he prepare the accounts?
00:37:17Yes.
00:37:18Did Mr. Svensson prepare a summary of the affairs of the group for the year ending 1974,
00:37:22and do you now produce that summary?
00:37:25I do.
00:37:25This will be Exhibit 4?
00:37:29Yes, my lord.
00:37:30Mm-hmm.
00:37:33Now, what profit does that show, if any, Mr. Scard?
00:37:38Erm, quarter of a million pounds.
00:37:42Mr. Scard, neither Mr. Henriquez nor the liquidator found any accounts or records in your office at all.
00:37:49And you say they disappeared.
00:37:51Where did that document come from?
00:37:53Mr. Svensson had kept a copy, my lord.
00:37:55Uh-huh.
00:37:55And did he keep a copy of other records or accounts of the various companies, for instance?
00:38:01Well, I understand they all got thrown out by mistake, my lord.
00:38:05Thrown out?
00:38:05By someone in his office.
00:38:08So now there are no documents at all to cast in the light on the profits or trading of the companies?
00:38:13Just a few, my lord.
00:38:14All the rest lost?
00:38:16Or suppressed.
00:38:18And I am very severely prejudiced by the loss of these documents from my office.
00:38:22They would prove the truth of everything that I say.
00:38:25And I would like that to go on the record.
00:38:28This is not an American court, Mr. Scard.
00:38:31And for your information, every single word you say is going on the record.
00:38:35Good.
00:38:35Oh, Mr. Svensson, is he alive and well and available to give evidence?
00:38:40Oh, yes.
00:38:41I see.
00:38:42Yes, Mr. Clancy?
00:38:43It is estimated that profits will triple in the next financial year.
00:38:47Did the group make that profit?
00:38:49No, but they would have done if Nigel Henriquez hadn't lost his head and put the bank into liquidation when there was this temporary cash flow problem.
00:38:56Yes.
00:38:57Now, when you gave that document to Mrs. Wylde and Mr. Henriquez, did you yourself personally believe that these profits might be realized?
00:39:04I most certainly did, yes.
00:39:05Now, was there one particular deal, Mr. Scard?
00:39:07Yes, yes.
00:39:08I'm very glad you asked me that.
00:39:10We were negotiating a multi-million pound international loan.
00:39:15And our commission would have been a quarter of a percent.
00:39:18Three quarters of a million pounds.
00:39:21A multi-million pound loan?
00:39:22Yes.
00:39:23Who's the loan for?
00:39:24Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you.
00:39:25I didn't know.
00:39:26What do you mean, you didn't know?
00:39:29Well, don't you understand, my lord?
00:39:31No, of course you wouldn't.
00:39:32You wouldn't have any experience of these things.
00:39:35No, you see, in these transactions, you do not reveal the names of your clients until the deal is concluded.
00:39:44Otherwise, you'd be cut out quicker than you could, say, knife.
00:39:47You mean you were acting for agents of undisclosed principles?
00:39:52We were.
00:39:53Agents.
00:39:54Brokers.
00:39:55I see.
00:39:56Yes, Mr. Cathy?
00:39:57Perhaps you could explain, Mr. Scard, how you became involved in these negotiations.
00:40:03Well, we'd reason to believe that an American broker had clients who could make available very large sums of money indeed, if we could place them properly.
00:40:11And we also reason to believe that a broker with whom we had contacts in Hong Kong could place these very large sums.
00:40:18So we tried to get it all together.
00:40:20But in the end, the deal never went through.
00:40:22Well, you see, you must understand that sums in excess of, oh, even as little as 10 million are very sensitive sums to place.
00:40:34Well, in this case, the terms have got to be just right for the lender, and it doesn't take very much to knock the whole edifice to pieces.
00:40:41Well, in this case, we did get it all together, but it all fell apart afterwards.
00:40:48There were binding contracts, then?
00:40:50Oh, absolutely.
00:40:51So now, I suppose there are various legal proceedings afoot for breach of contract in connection with this international loan.
00:40:58Oh, indeed.
00:40:59And I'm not exaggerating when I say it is the subject of lawsuits in half a dozen American states.
00:41:04Oh, I see.
00:41:06Tell me, how are these negotiations carried out?
00:41:10By telephone and by telex.
00:41:13And all the telexes, of course, have been lost?
00:41:15Or deliberately destroyed.
00:41:17Now, Mr. Scott, we know that in November 1974, your bank had on deposit at various other banks a sum of 200,000 pounds,
00:41:27but that in the following May, that would be May 1975, there was only a credit balance in those accounts of 15 pence.
00:41:35Now, where did that money go?
00:41:37Well, you'll appreciate that I am in difficulty here speaking without the records.
00:41:41I mean, I may get it wrong.
00:41:43Let us tell us, to the best of your recollection, you do nothing wrong if you make a mistake, only if you tell a lie.
00:41:50Right.
00:41:50Well, 100,000 pounds was loaned to a company in Istanbul at 20%.
00:41:57Has that been repaid?
00:41:59Not to my knowledge, no.
00:42:00So it's still owing?
00:42:01Correct.
00:42:02Yes, Mr. Scott?
00:42:03And 100,000 pounds was transferred to the trading division.
00:42:06A loan to Robert Eastgard Trading Limited.
00:42:08Right.
00:42:09Still repayable?
00:42:10Oh, legally repayable, yes.
00:42:11So there's no question of you having stolen that.
00:42:13What a money.
00:42:14Now, all those funds were properly dispersed in legitimate investments according to the scope of the legal objects of the bank, and all are repayable.
00:42:23Now, all the prosecution witnesses have said that on September the 2nd, you told them that you were making so much money that you didn't know how to spend it.
00:42:33Now, did you say that?
00:42:34No way.
00:42:35I'm not that sort of a loudmouth for one thing.
00:42:37No, that's something that they have cooked up together.
00:42:39Miss Baker also said that while she was working for you, you spent your entire time staving off creditors.
00:42:46And as far as she could see, there were never any profits at all.
00:42:49Oh, well, that's terrible again, you see.
00:42:50Talking out of turn about things about which she knew nothing.
00:42:52At that time, I had a multi-million pound international loan.
00:42:57She hadn't even heard of it.
00:42:58Now, Mr. Henrique says that when he telephoned you on the 50th of May and asked you for the return of his 7,000 pounds, you told him he wasn't getting it.
00:43:08And that the money was somewhere where he couldn't get his hands on it.
00:43:11Now, did you say that?
00:43:12No way.
00:43:13So he's either mistaken, or he is in fact lying.
00:43:16Right.
00:43:18But I'd like to say that Mr. Henrique has been under considerable strain.
00:43:24His wife...
00:43:25Yes, Mr. Sir, what was your relationship with his wife?
00:43:29Well, I was having an affair with her.
00:43:31I didn't want it, but these things happened to me.
00:43:35Now, Mr. Henrique has came to see you on the...
00:43:38Yes, on the 15th of November 1974.
00:43:41He told us of what must have been a fairly long interview, at which he asked to see the bank's books and demanded repayment of his 7,000 pounds.
00:43:50Now, he says he was angry at that interview.
00:43:51Right.
00:43:52Do you know whether he knew at that time about your affair with his wife?
00:43:55Oh, yes.
00:43:56Oh, I would never have written him that letter if he hadn't already known.
00:43:59Did he say anything about you and his wife at that interview?
00:44:03No.
00:44:04More concerned about his money, it seems.
00:44:06He says that he inquired about the Turkish investments and that you called him a mental pygmy.
00:44:15Is that true?
00:44:16Well, I don't want to hurt anyone.
00:44:20It's just that...
00:44:22You see, this country was made by a handful of men who were prepared to make decisions and to back those decisions with their lives and their fortunes.
00:44:29It means a handful of my generation who fought the Battle of Britain.
00:44:31And over the last 30 years, we've seen the freedom we fought for flittered away and our great adventurers replaced by an army of grey little men with no horizons wider than their pensions.
00:44:43Well, just for a moment, I couldn't help seeing Nigel for what he really is, a branch bank manager, a grey little man with no horizon.
00:44:54So you called him a mental pygmy?
00:44:57Yes.
00:44:58Did he reply?
00:44:59Yes.
00:45:00Did he reply?
00:45:01Yes.
00:45:02He said, I will destroy you, Scarred, if it is the last thing I do.
00:45:06Oh.
00:45:07Now, exhibit number two.
00:45:09Did you write that letter to Mr. Henrique stating that the Persian government had appointed the group sole purchasing agents for the United Kingdom?
00:45:17Oh, yes.
00:45:18That's right.
00:45:19Yes.
00:45:20Mr. Henrique is quite right about that.
00:45:21Now, did the Persian government place any business with the group?
00:45:24No, but they would have done were it not for the bad publicity created by Mr. Henrique's.
00:45:28There was an agreement, was there?
00:45:29Oh, absolutely.
00:45:30And that's another of the documents that has disappeared, I suppose.
00:45:34Oh, no.
00:45:35No.
00:45:36That was a verbal agreement.
00:45:37A verbal agreement?
00:45:38Yes, yes.
00:45:39With whom?
00:45:40The Shah of Persia?
00:45:41How could it be?
00:45:43Now, His Highness the Shah and Shah and I have never met, have we?
00:45:46Then how was the arrangement made, Mr. Scarred?
00:45:48Oh, with the telephone with Mr. Purvis at the embassy.
00:45:51It was later confirmed by Telex.
00:45:53Did you keep the Telex?
00:45:54Of course.
00:45:55And I would have them today.
00:45:57Only somebody is out to get me.
00:46:00Tell me, who do you think is out to get you?
00:46:03Well, search me.
00:46:04Nigel Henrique's?
00:46:05The liquidator?
00:46:06The police?
00:46:07The police?
00:46:08Whoever it was who stripped that office bare of every document that would be useful to
00:46:13my defence.
00:46:14Your former secretary, Miss Baker, says there were no records at all.
00:46:18No, well, that's perjury.
00:46:20I've only myself to blame for that.
00:46:22Why?
00:46:23Well, you may find this difficult to believe, but for reasons which I occasionally understand,
00:46:31women do find me extremely attractive, and I'm extremely weak in this matter.
00:46:36When a woman makes her dead, said to me, I give in, as Confucius says, without a struggle.
00:46:42Well, I do know my weaknesses, so when Cheryl came round looking for the job, I said, well,
00:46:49I'd asked for somebody ugly, you see.
00:46:51So I said to her, are you the lesbian I ordered?
00:46:54And she was a little bit indignant about that, but not being used to my ways.
00:46:58But when she calmed down, I said to her, now look here, Cheryl, I said, do you find me at all attractive?
00:47:03Because if you do, it's no good.
00:47:05We can't work together.
00:47:06Well, she assured me that she found me one of the least attractive men she'd ever met.
00:47:10And quite frankly, I was taken in.
00:47:12Did you come to the point, Mr. Scar?
00:47:14Oh, was I going on a bit?
00:47:15I'm sorry, Malone.
00:47:16You wish to explain that, for some reason, Miss Baker bears you a sense of malice and
00:47:21that has led her to tell lies about you?
00:47:23Well, I mean, in no time at all, she's voluntarily staying on late at the office and, you know,
00:47:28one thing leads to another and to another and to another, the way these things do.
00:47:32She's getting heavier and heavier and heavier.
00:47:35You mean serious?
00:47:37Oh, dead right, my lord.
00:47:39Well, I mean, I'm a married man.
00:47:41I love my wife and my children sincerely and deeply.
00:47:44And, I mean, this extramarital heaviness is not for me.
00:47:47And she knew that.
00:47:48I mean, don't get me wrong.
00:47:50So, I mean, it all ended up in blood and tears, I'm sorry to say, with Cheryl vowing to get scarred like all the rest of them.
00:47:58It's all my own fault.
00:47:59And I should never have believed her when she said that she didn't find me attractive.
00:48:02All women do.
00:48:07The jury in this case is comprised of members of the general public.
00:48:23The Queen against scarred will be concluded tomorrow in the Crown Court.
00:48:37Robert E. Scarred is charged with fraud.
00:49:04It is alleged that he obtained 7,000 pounds from a Mr. Nigel Henriquez and 3,000 pounds from a Mrs. Margaret Wilde by making false representations as to the financial standing of his companies.
00:49:16It is further alleged that he misappropriated 200,000 pounds invested in his bank by Mr. Henriquez, Mrs. Wilde and other depositors like them.
00:49:24He's given evidence denying these allegations.
00:49:27At the Folchester Crown Court, Mr. Parsons, counsel for the Crown, rises to cross-examine Scarred.
00:49:39Mr. Scarred, what you've told us so far is humbug from beginning to end, is it not?
00:49:47No, sir.
00:49:48Come now.
00:49:49I mean, you're no more a former Spitfire pilot than I am.
00:49:52I never said I was.
00:49:53That's what you told us yesterday.
00:49:55I did not.
00:49:56And don't you try and twist it.
00:49:58Well, you've certainly said something from which that might be inferred.
00:50:01Well, if it was misleading, it was accidental, and I'm sorry, my lord.
00:50:06You told Miss Baker you were a Spitfire pilot?
00:50:08I was a Nercraft fitter during the Battle of Britain, and I have never told anyone anything different.
00:50:15Well, we hear what you say.
00:50:19Now, I'm going to take this step by step.
00:50:23The quarter of a million pound group profit.
00:50:26Now, first of all, at no time in 1974 or 1973 were there more than three people working for your group.
00:50:32Is that right?
00:50:33That's right, yes.
00:50:34Two most of the time, myself and a temp.
00:50:36And I had a boy, the one I sacked over Mrs. Wilde's Bulgarian holiday.
00:50:41Yes.
00:50:42We're just trying to get your group into perspective, Mr. Skard.
00:50:45Do you understand?
00:50:46Yes, I think that's very important, if I may say so.
00:50:48Good, good.
00:50:49Now, Robert Eastgard Retailing Limited, the retailing division of your group, did make a quarter of a million pound profit in 1974, did it?
00:50:56No.
00:50:57No.
00:50:58Because his only retailing outlet was a single newsagent shop in a village, wasn't it?
00:51:01Small beginnings, yes.
00:51:03Mm-hmm.
00:51:04The property division, Robert Eastgard Property Limited, that didn't make a quarter of a million pound profit in 1974, did it?
00:51:11How would you know?
00:51:12Never mind how he'd know. Answer the question.
00:51:14Oh, sorry.
00:51:16Can I have it again?
00:51:18The property division didn't make any profit at all, did it?
00:51:23No.
00:51:24Well, we were tricked, you see, over some land we bought for redevelopment which had an open space zoning on it.
00:51:30Something which our surveyor didn't bother to tell us.
00:51:33As unknown to us, the vendor was his brother-in-law. We're suing him.
00:51:38Robert Eastgard Trading Limited, the trading division didn't make any profit, did it?
00:51:44Er, well, I'm not quite sure about that.
00:51:48It didn't make a quarter of a million pounds profit, did it?
00:51:51No, no.
00:51:52Yeah.
00:51:53How much did it make?
00:51:54Er, well, I'm trying to remember, you see, I'm stuck without the records.
00:51:57Take your time. We can wait.
00:52:01Er, well, I think we just about broke even.
00:52:07Ah.
00:52:08The resources division, Robert Eastgard Resources Limited, didn't do any business at all, did it?
00:52:13Oh, yes, we negotiated for a bit of the action in the North Sea, but we didn't get it, no.
00:52:17No, no.
00:52:18The travel agency, Sun Voyager's Personalized Magic.
00:52:23That didn't make any profit, did it?
00:52:26No, Sun Voyager's Personalized Magic was a whole lesson against delegation.
00:52:31Take my advice, Mr. Parsons.
00:52:32Yes.
00:52:33Never delegate.
00:52:34So the quarter of a million pounds profit must have come from the banking division.
00:52:37Right.
00:52:38Right, so now you tell us.
00:52:40How did you make it?
00:52:41Financial consultancy.
00:52:43What, fees for advice?
00:52:45Right.
00:52:46When were they paid?
00:52:47They weren't.
00:52:49How on earth to take it onto the accounts as a profit if they were never paid?
00:52:53What's wrong with that?
00:52:54It was just a debt.
00:52:56Yes.
00:52:57Mr. Svensson said it was all right.
00:52:59I mean, I'm not an accountant.
00:53:01I just give him the papers and leave it to him to work it out.
00:53:05Well, is Mr. Svensson in court today?
00:53:07Um, I don't know.
00:53:09Has he been subpoenaed?
00:53:11Well, I'm afraid you'll have to ask my solicitor about that.
00:53:15Are you saying you don't know whether he's coming to court?
00:53:18Um, I don't believe he is.
00:53:21So then we'll only have your word for it that, in fact, that Mr. Svensson approved these accounts.
00:53:26Well, if it's wrong, as you are saying it is, I suppose he'd be frightened to come into court and face the music, wouldn't he?
00:53:34You can subpoena him, he wrote. Force him to come.
00:53:37Oh, yes.
00:53:38Yes, well, then, have you decided whether to subpoena him?
00:53:44Really, my lord, I must intervene.
00:53:46The decision whether or not to subpoena a witness is one especially to be taken in conjunction with legal advisers.
00:53:54However, my lord, to tear the matter up once and for all, I will not be calling Mr. Svensson.
00:53:59I see. Thank you, Mr. Canty. That is most helpful. Shall we move on, Mr. Parsons?
00:54:04Anywhere, my lord.
00:54:05Now, just tell me this, Mr. Scard. How did you earn these fees of a quarter of a million pounds if you were never paid?
00:54:12Whom did you advise?
00:54:13Well, we completely reorganized the financial structure and the cost systems for a client.
00:54:18Yes. The name?
00:54:19Stoker and Tyler. Here in Fulchester.
00:54:21Mr. Scard, Stoker and Tyler is a small firm of builders. It's a private company employing five men.
00:54:35Are you saying that you gave them advice worth a quarter of a million pounds?
00:54:39It was worth much more than that. That's what I charge them.
00:54:43Mr. Scard, that's incredible. I mean, the turnover of that company could only be about 50,000 pounds, couldn't it?
00:54:5025,000, if my memory serves me right.
00:54:52Then what did you do, Father, for a quarter of a million pounds?
00:54:55I've just told you.
00:54:57Look, if you don't believe me, why don't you look at the agreement?
00:55:02My solicitor's got it there.
00:55:07Yes, it is. It is here, my lord.
00:55:08Let Mr. Parsons see it, will you?
00:55:10No.
00:55:11Very well, my lord.
00:55:12Let's see. Yes. Thank you.
00:55:14I see. Well, yes. This does indeed appear to be an agreement signed by them for your services.
00:55:24Goodness knows what induced them to sign this.
00:55:27I mean, they haven't made a million since receiving the benefit of your advice.
00:55:32Well, I'm afraid you'll have to ask them that. I wouldn't know.
00:55:36Haven't you heard, Mr. Scard? Haven't you heard?
00:55:39Stucker and Tyler went bust at the beginning of the year.
00:55:42They're in liquidation.
00:55:44Did you honestly believe that at any time they would be capable of paying you a quarter of a million pounds?
00:55:51Well, I mean, what is a man to do when his professional advisor comes to him and says,
00:55:56you have made a quarter of a million pounds profit?
00:55:58What? Tell him he's a liar?
00:56:00What are accountants for?
00:56:02This document had better be marked Exhibit 5.
00:56:06Ah, yes, my lord.
00:56:10Well, shall we next deal with the Shah of Persia?
00:56:16Fire away. Anything at all? You ask him, I'll answer him. Fire away.
00:56:19Now, the appointment was made by Mr. Parvis, you say, from the embassy.
00:56:23Yes, over the telephone.
00:56:24And by Telex, you told us.
00:56:26Well, how did you ever get this appointment?
00:56:29I mean, did he just phone you up out of the blue and say,
00:56:32Mr. Scard, I've heard about you. Would you like to act as the Shah's agent?
00:56:36Very good, very good.
00:56:40No, seriously.
00:56:41I met him in Tehran some years back.
00:56:45Where?
00:56:46In a club.
00:56:47Called?
00:56:48The Keyhole Club. It's in Shem Iran.
00:56:51That's the smart bit where the royal family have their palaces.
00:56:54Ah.
00:56:55And were there discussions about the proposed agency then?
00:56:57Oh, no. He was much more interested in the broads.
00:57:00The broads?
00:57:02Oh, sorry.
00:57:03Erm, ladies.
00:57:05Oh.
00:57:07No, seriously.
00:57:08Later he was seconded to London and we had many top-level discussions then.
00:57:11Ah.
00:57:12So you became quite good friends.
00:57:14Oh, yes, yes. We used to go round the clubs together.
00:57:16What?
00:57:17Would it be fair to say you became very close friends?
00:57:19Oh, yes. He used to always call me up when he wanted, you know, some fun.
00:57:23Ah.
00:57:24So no doubt this very close friend will be coming to give evidence to corroborate your story.
00:57:28Oh, yes. He'll be here all night.
00:57:30Is he in court today?
00:57:31Well, no. See, the snag is that he is no longer with the embassy in London.
00:57:34Ah.
00:57:35He was recalled.
00:57:36Yes, to Persia.
00:57:38But, er, you say he's on his way.
00:57:41Right.
00:57:43Very well.
00:57:44Well, let's deal with the, er, the missing 200,000 pounds.
00:57:49Now, first with the 100,000 pounds you say was loaned to a Turkish company.
00:57:54Is that the one you told Mr. Henrikis about, the Bakir Dormuz Cooperative?
00:57:58Right.
00:57:59Which organisation Mr. Henrikis tried to visit at the address you gave him and found it not to exist?
00:58:06Well, that's rubbish.
00:58:07If he'd gone there, he would have found it.
00:58:09It's run by a Mr. Bakir in the old bazaar. I don't believe he ever went there.
00:58:13Or if he did, he certainly didn't look properly.
00:58:15I don't know if any of you have ever been there, but that place is a major history.
00:58:17Again, there is no documentary evidence of this loan.
00:58:22Well, I'm not responsible for what other people do with my papers, am I?
00:58:25So, again, we only have your word for it.
00:58:26That any such company exists.
00:58:28That that amount of money was put on loan to them.
00:58:31Or that you didn't just accredit away in some bank account.
00:58:34Well, I've told you. What more can I do?
00:58:37Well, er, when did you, er, carry out this business with this Turkish company?
00:58:42It wasn't when you took Miss Baker to Istanbul, was it?
00:58:46No, but that's when the negotiations started.
00:58:48Well, I mean, according to her, the nearest you came to doing any business there
00:58:51was when a carpenter in the bazaar offered to exchange her for a carpet.
00:58:56Well, that's not true.
00:58:57And after what she said in this court, I'm beginning to be sorry I didn't agree to the exchange.
00:59:02Mr. Scard, will you please take these proceedings seriously?
00:59:05Well, that's very difficult, my lord.
00:59:07When Henriquez or the police or the liquidator or somebody has gone off with all my papers
00:59:12and you're prosecuting me and not them.
00:59:14Don't you realize what a serious position you're in?
00:59:17I should say I realize it much more clearly than anyone else in this court.
00:59:20And I haven't just got myself to think about it.
00:59:22I've got a wife and young children.
00:59:25My lord, might I have a moment?
00:59:28Of course.
00:59:30Mr. Scard, I'd like to go back to the Persian matter, if I may.
00:59:40You say you met Mr. Parvis in Tehran?
00:59:43Yes.
00:59:44When was that?
00:59:45Oh, a couple of years ago.
00:59:48Yes.
00:59:49Would a British citizen require a visa to visit Persia?
00:59:53I'd do a great deal of traveling. I can't remember.
00:59:56Well, they would do, wouldn't they?
00:59:58Um, yes, I think you're right.
01:00:01Yes.
01:00:02Well, I wonder if you could look at your passport and find a visa for Persia for me.
01:00:26There isn't one.
01:00:27Ah.
01:00:28Well, there wouldn't be one, would there not, if you had been to Persia as you claim.
01:00:33Hmm.
01:00:37I think I'd better scrap my life and begin again, don't you?
01:00:39The visa must be in my old passport.
01:00:52But that would mean that your visit to Persia must have taken place at least four years ago.
01:00:56Yes, must have been.
01:00:58But just now, you said it was a couple of years ago.
01:01:00Well, you know, I made a mistake.
01:01:02So once again, we only have your word for it that you ever went to Persia.
01:01:06Or that there's a man at the Persian diplomatic service called Mr. Parvis.
01:01:10Or that you met him.
01:01:11Well, you can ask him when he comes.
01:01:13I await his advent with almost uncontrollable eagerness, Mr. Scard.
01:01:19My lord, if I may intervene again, my client plainly hasn't heard the latest news.
01:01:28Mr. Parvis will not be attending to give evidence.
01:01:31But he promised.
01:01:33I was talking to him last night on the telephone.
01:01:36My lord, the position is quite simple.
01:01:38Mr. Parvis is in Persia and he is informed by an instructing solicitor
01:01:42that he would be unable to come to England in the next two years.
01:01:46Well, then we must have an adjournment.
01:01:48For two years?
01:01:52Mr. Canty, are you applying for an adjournment?
01:01:56No, my lord.
01:01:58But why not?
01:01:59I am being deprived of all the evidence for my defence.
01:02:02You must be guided by your counsel, Mr. Canty.
01:02:08Oh.
01:02:09So.
01:02:10We shan't be hearing from Mr. Parvis either.
01:02:13After all.
01:02:18Now, I wish to come back to the missing 200,000 pounds.
01:02:23You've explained how 100,000 pounds went on a loan to a Turkish company.
01:02:28As you say, the other 100,000 pounds went on a loan to Robert Eastgaard Trading Limited.
01:02:33Now, no documentary evidence of that loan, I suppose.
01:02:37Well, what for?
01:02:38I mean, I don't write letters to myself, you know.
01:02:42You're referring to the fact that you are, or were, managing director of both companies?
01:02:47Yes, of course.
01:02:48You know, I don't waste stamps writing letters to myself.
01:02:52I mean, I just do it.
01:02:53And is there any chance of that money being repaid?
01:02:56Well, I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.
01:02:59Why not?
01:03:00Well, because we were defrauded.
01:03:01How?
01:03:02Well, we had bought some ex-US Army, ex-Vietnam, electrically operated portable flush lavatories, which turned out to be no good.
01:03:11What happened to them?
01:03:13Well, it turned out when they reached the buyers, we had sold them on, you see, that they wouldn't flush.
01:03:19You bought 100,000 pounds worth of portable lavatories, and when they were delivered, you found that they wouldn't flush.
01:03:28That's right, my lord.
01:03:29There were no outlets from the bowls.
01:03:31It was plain fraud.
01:03:33All they did was give out electrical shocks.
01:03:36And you're saying that you paid for them?
01:03:38Oh, yes, as soon as we got the bills of lading.
01:03:41I thought it was the golden rule of all entrepreneurs never to buy anything until they'd already sold it.
01:03:49Are you saying you broke the golden rule?
01:03:51Well, it was a very respectable American company incorporated in New York with assets in the UK.
01:03:55I certainly didn't expect it of them.
01:03:57What was the name of the company?
01:03:58Resco New York.
01:04:00How many lavatories were there in the consignment?
01:04:02Two thousand.
01:04:04What did you do when you discovered you had two thousand lavatories which wouldn't flush?
01:04:12Well, my wife and I tried putting outlets in some of them and rewiring them, but it was no good.
01:04:17So we shoved them out in the garden and we issued a writ.
01:04:20But we ended up with a no-good judgment.
01:04:22Why was the judgment no good?
01:04:24Because Resco had shifted all their assets out of the UK.
01:04:27Oh.
01:04:29Dear, dear, what a chapter of misfortunes you seem to have experienced, Mr. Scard.
01:04:33I mean, if anything you say is true, nothing went right.
01:04:37Well, you can say that again.
01:04:38And I had a consignment of Levi's which were illegally seized by the Turkish police as well.
01:04:43That matter has been dealt with by the Foreign Office.
01:04:45And I must say this trial is not helping overly either.
01:04:49Oh, dear.
01:04:54Hmm.
01:04:56Um, Mr. Scard, you say the company that, uh, defrauded you was, uh, Resco New York?
01:05:02That's right.
01:05:04Uh, Resco New York is short for Robert E. Scard and Company New York, is it not?
01:05:10Yes.
01:05:11Another of your companies, an American company?
01:05:13Yes.
01:05:14Then why did you tell us that your English company was defrauded by this company when you owned them both?
01:05:20No, no.
01:05:21The American company wasn't mine.
01:05:23You just said it was.
01:05:24No, I'd sold out at the time of the deal.
01:05:27Oh, no.
01:05:28That company and I were at arm's length.
01:05:30But they kept my name for the prestige and the goodwill.
01:05:33Oh.
01:05:34So there's a contract of, uh, of the sale of the shares in their company?
01:05:38Oh, yes, of course.
01:05:39You're going to ask for the documents.
01:05:41No go, I'm afraid.
01:05:42Gone West, like the rest of them.
01:05:44I see.
01:05:45Just your word once again.
01:05:48Well, can we now come to the, uh, forecast profit of three quarters of a million pounds?
01:05:55Fire away.
01:05:56Fire away.
01:05:57This was an anticipated commission for arranging a multi-million pounds international loan.
01:06:02Yes.
01:06:03For how much was the loan?
01:06:06Um...
01:06:19300 million.
01:06:21You just made that up.
01:06:24No, certainly.
01:06:25Why did it require a calculator?
01:06:28To, uh, to work out what figure would be required to produce three quarters of a million profit
01:06:32at a quarter percent?
01:06:33Well, I'd forgotten how much the loan was for.
01:06:35All I could remember was the, the commission figure.
01:06:37Really?
01:06:38And you say the deal was clinched before the 2nd of September, 1974?
01:06:43Well, so I thought.
01:06:44I'd ordered a new Mercedes already.
01:06:46Well, what went wrong?
01:06:48Well, you see, as I explained to you before, in these transactions, you do not reveal the names
01:06:53of your principles, if you don't want to get cut out of the deal, you see.
01:06:56So, I mean, there may be a whole chain of men in the deal.
01:07:00I mean, X may not know a man with the money to lend.
01:07:04He may only know a man who knows a man with the money to lend.
01:07:07Or he may only know a man who knows a man who knows a man with the money to lend.
01:07:11Or even a man who knows a man who knows a man who knows a man with the money to lend.
01:07:13Yes, yes, yes, yes, Mr. Scard.
01:07:14There's no need to go on.
01:07:16We get the picture.
01:07:17Yes, well, this deal began when a Dallas broker rang me up and offered me 300 million
01:07:23at 298 and 9%.
01:07:25298?
01:07:26Yes, my lord.
01:07:27That's the discount rate, you see.
01:07:29Now, I happen to know a broker in Hong Kong who was looking for money, so we got it all
01:07:33together and it all gelled.
01:07:36But the International Monetary Fund couldn't do it for him, but I did it.
01:07:40And then what?
01:07:41Well then, sometime after that, it was time for us to uncover ourselves, so to speak.
01:07:46And I was in L.A. and I got word that it was time that we'd put it all through, so they
01:07:51all flew in to put the seal on it.
01:07:52And then, pow, the ugly truth revealed itself in all its nakedness.
01:07:58Or rather, vice versa.
01:08:05You mean that all the brokers met to reveal their principles and seal the contract?
01:08:10Right.
01:08:11Well, just tell us what happened.
01:08:15Well, it turned out that the Dallas broker, who had agreed to lend me the money, didn't
01:08:19have any money.
01:08:20And that he was merely drumming up a bit of the action in the hope that he could borrow
01:08:25it when he had found a borrower.
01:08:27Ah, but he couldn't find anyone to lend it to him.
01:08:30Oh, no, he found someone already.
01:08:31Oh.
01:08:32Well, what went wrong?
01:08:33Well, when we all uncovered ourselves, it turned out that he had borrowed from a man in
01:08:38Germany, who had borrowed from a man in Tokyo, who had borrowed from a man in Genoa, who
01:08:41had borrowed from a man in Hong Kong, who had borrowed it from me.
01:08:45You mean you had borrowed 300 million pounds from yourself?
01:08:53No.
01:08:54Lent it.
01:08:55No, you're right.
01:08:57But you see, I didn't know that when I told Henriquez and Mrs. Wilde about the estimated
01:09:04profit margin.
01:09:05I mean, I thought it was all for real.
01:09:06Yes.
01:09:07Mr. Scardia, are you really saying all this happened to you?
01:09:16Sure.
01:09:17This could happen to anybody.
01:09:19It happened to me.
01:09:22Now, the accused denied all these charges.
01:09:26He admitted making the representations of which there was documentary evidence, but said
01:09:30that those representations were true.
01:09:32He denied ever saying that he had so much money he didn't know what to do with it.
01:09:36He claimed that the 200,000 pounds had been dispersed perfectly lawfully.
01:09:41He said that the witnesses were all motivated by malice to tell lies about him.
01:09:46He claimed Mrs. Wilde was his mistress.
01:09:49Ah, I apologize for interrupting, but as far as I can recall, Mr. Scardia did not claim
01:09:57to have an affair with Mrs. Wilde.
01:10:00Didn't he?
01:10:02I thought he claimed to have slept with everybody.
01:10:05No, my lord.
01:10:06Not with Mrs. Wilde.
01:10:08Or with Mr. Henriquez.
01:10:10Oh, very well.
01:10:12Thank you very much, Mr. Parsons.
01:10:14Very helpful.
01:10:15Now, members of the jury, you heard what Mr. Parsons says.
01:10:18He is, of course, quite right.
01:10:20The accused claimed that he slept with Miss Baker and Mr. Henriquez's wife.
01:10:25And those events were a partial explanation for the malice which he says the witnesses bore him.
01:10:31Well, you must choose between the witnesses.
01:10:35Whose evidence do you find the most credible?
01:10:38Do you believe the accused's complicated explanations?
01:10:42Do you believe they ever were the documents which he claimed existed?
01:10:46Or do you really believe that Mr. Henriquez destroyed or suppressed them?
01:10:51Those are matters for you.
01:10:53Remember that the burden of proof rests upon the prosecution.
01:10:57They must prove the accused guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.
01:11:01If you have any reasonable doubt, then the accused must be acquitted.
01:11:06Now, will you please retire, elect a foreman to speak for you in return, and consider your verdict.
01:11:19I'll just answer this question, yes or no.
01:11:22Have you reached a verdict on which you are all agreed?
01:11:24Yes.
01:11:25On the first count, obtaining the sum of £3,000 from Mrs. Margaret Wilde by deception,
01:11:30do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?
01:11:33Guilty.
01:11:34On the second count, obtaining the sum of £7,000 from Mr. Nigel Henriquez by deception,
01:11:39do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?
01:11:42Guilty.
01:11:43And on the third count, theft, do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?
01:11:47Guilty.
01:11:55Robert E. Scard was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each charge.
01:12:00£3,000 from Jesus께서 APPLAUSE
01:12:01At Tony Sang-Rudly and?
01:12:15Well, there someone seemed to complain.
01:12:17I didn't have to mention a case atoria.
01:12:19.
Comments