- 2 days ago
Ronald Crosby faces accusations that he deceived investors about the current state of his companies in order to increase share prices for his own profit.
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00:00:32The judge, Mr Justice Waddington, has just agreed to Crosby conducting his defence from the body of the court.
00:01:04Members of the jury, it is possible that some or all of you may have heard of the defendant.
00:01:09His name may have been familiar to you long before you heard anything about this case because he has enjoyed
00:01:14a certain amount of fame or perhaps notoriety.
00:01:17Mr Crosby has been a great favourite of the gossip columnists.
00:01:21Many names have been linked with his, many of them distinguished and honourable.
00:01:27Mr Crosby, as you will hear, has a taste for expensive acquisitions.
00:01:31And for two years or so of his life, he found a way to indulge those tastes.
00:01:37Grand houses, grand motor cars, the inevitable yacht.
00:01:39And when he entertained, there was champagne and caviar.
00:01:43But we are less concerned with what Mr Crosby and his guests ate or drank than we are with a
00:01:48less intoxicating question.
00:01:50Who paid for it?
00:01:53Now, you may have heard the term financial wizard.
00:01:55It has been applied to Mr Crosby.
00:01:58But the evidence will show that he was, in fact, only a financial conjurer.
00:02:03Now, you and I, as laymen, may find the sleight of hand hard to follow at times.
00:02:09But the heart of the thing is really very simple.
00:02:13Mr Crosby induced other people to part with their money on the understanding that he would, with care and skill,
00:02:18invest it for them in some venture or another.
00:02:22Now, some of this money he did invest, wisely or otherwise.
00:02:27But in every increasing proportion of it was used to finance his own lavish style of living.
00:02:33I swear by almighty God that the evidence I should give should be the truth, the whole truth, and love
00:02:37and love the truth.
00:02:40You are George Stoughton, and you are a company's inspector with the Department of Trade and Industry.
00:02:45I am.
00:02:46Would you tell us, please, when Mr Crosby's activities first came to your notice?
00:02:49He was chairman and managing director of Realm and Land Hope Securities,
00:02:55a company that came under the scrutiny of the Department as a result of the annual audit for the year
00:03:001972-73,
00:03:01which was carried out by Mr Sayer of Pike Watson Maynard.
00:03:07Mr Sayer found that he was unable to sign the account of Realm and Land Hope Securities without qualification.
00:03:14Could you explain, please, what that means?
00:03:17Yes.
00:03:18Because of the state of the company's account, Mr Sayer was unable to sign a true and complete statement of
00:03:25the trading position of the company
00:03:26without referring to certain matters, certain irregularities, should I say.
00:03:32And that is what is meant by qualifying the accounts?
00:03:35Yes.
00:03:37What were these irregularities that disturbed Mr Sayer?
00:03:41Er, yes.
00:03:43Well, if I may...
00:03:46Sorry, it's the wrong one.
00:03:47It's that...
00:03:48Exhibits 1 to 46, please.
00:03:53Sorry about that.
00:03:54That's quite right, Mr Stoughton.
00:03:56I'll read you the first paragraph of Mr Sayer's qualification of the account.
00:04:01Yes, please.
00:04:03In the opinion of the auditors, the state of the credit balances of Realm and Land Hope Securities cannot be
00:04:11represented by these accounts
00:04:13unless the sum of £238,000 is written off against debts which the auditors believe not to be recoverable
00:04:23or to be improperly secured against the company's other shares.
00:04:29This is the sum of loans to directors and others detailed in the schedule attached.
00:04:35Now, if I understand that correctly, Mr Sayer is saying that the company made certain loans that the auditors considered
00:04:40to be improper.
00:04:41Well, that is very clearly what he is saying, yes.
00:04:43Who were the directors referred to?
00:04:45Mr Crosby and Mr Dimitri Leonidas and two men called Samuel Howes and Lionel Harper
00:04:52who were acting as nominees for a company of which Mr Crosby and Mr Leonidas were also directors.
00:04:58You examined the records of Realm and Land Hope Securities, did you?
00:05:01Yes, of that company and of other companies with which Mr Crosby is associated.
00:05:07Did you find yourself agreeing with the auditors?
00:05:09Yes, I took the view that the loans were improper according to the provisions of the Company's Act.
00:05:16Now, before we go on, Mr Stoughton, we should perhaps understand whose money it was that was being loaned.
00:05:21Where did the money come from?
00:05:23Well, the money came from anyone who had invested in the company
00:05:26or anyone who had invested in two unit trusts that were managed by the company.
00:05:31That is, Stirling Realm Unit Trusts and Land Hope Britannia Unit Trusts.
00:05:39The money loaned by Mr Crosby's company to other companies and to Mr Crosby and to other people
00:05:46was money that was managed on trust on behalf of a great many people.
00:05:51Now, these people had invested in the company and had invested in the unit trusts.
00:05:57If I may say so, at this point, the man in the street has a rather confused idea of what
00:06:04they call high finance.
00:06:06But it is really very simple.
00:06:07Finance is simply a rather impressive term for other people's money.
00:06:11And a financier is somebody who disposes of other people's money.
00:06:15Now, if he does so according to his word and the law of the land, all well and good.
00:06:20But if he does so, disposes of it in any other way, then that is within the scope of the
00:06:24criminal.
00:06:25You are not suggesting, are you, Mr Storton, that there is anything either criminal or reprehensible in being a financier?
00:06:31I hope I'm not saying that, by the way.
00:06:33I should not like the jury to receive the impression that you were implying that.
00:06:37Now, I simply wish to make the point that a man who has free play with other people's money
00:06:41is in the way of obvious and ever-present temptations.
00:06:45He is therefore in a position of trust and must be scrupulous not to abuse that.
00:06:50Trust.
00:06:50Yes, that is very clear.
00:06:52I'm obliged, my lord.
00:06:54Now, Mr Storton, perhaps you could take us through the history of these loans.
00:06:58When was the first?
00:06:59Yes, well, we're talking about March 1972.
00:07:03Land Hope Investments loaned the sum of £20,000 to a Mr Lionel Harper,
00:07:08who was acting as a nominee for Realm Securities.
00:07:12Now, Realm Securities and Land Hope Investments were two separate companies,
00:07:16but they later merged to become Realm and Land Hope Securities.
00:07:19Let us not leap too far ahead.
00:07:22This, then, was a loan from one company to another through a nominee called Lionel Harper.
00:07:27Yes.
00:07:28Was there any connection between these two companies?
00:07:32The registered address of the two companies was the same,
00:07:35that is, 22 Littlewood Street, London West 10.
00:07:38Was there any other connection?
00:07:40Mr Crosby was chairman and managing director of both companies.
00:07:44Well, that would have been very convenient, wouldn't it?
00:07:46It would save travelling time, would it not?
00:07:48Oh.
00:07:49Who, by the way, was Mr Harper?
00:07:51Yes, well, I can't tell you very much about Mr Harper.
00:07:54He's not been an easy man to get in touch with.
00:07:56Have you been in touch with him?
00:07:57Er, no.
00:07:58The address that we have for Mr Harper is a furnished flat in Labbrook Grove,
00:08:02but he's no longer to be found, though.
00:08:05Did you find anything about him that would lead you to believe that he was a man of substance?
00:08:09No, nothing at all.
00:08:11Is he registered as a director of any company currently trading?
00:08:15No.
00:08:16So, Land Hope Investments loaned £20,000 to the seemingly insubstantial Mr Harper.
00:08:23What security did the company hold for this loan?
00:08:26It was the lease on 11 Virtue Gardens Harpenden.
00:08:31Was that a good and sufficient security?
00:08:33I estimated its value at the time to be between £6,000 and £7,000.
00:08:37I see.
00:08:39And was Mr Harper the owner of this property, inadequate though it is?
00:08:43No, the freehold was among the listed assets of Pell-Mell Limited.
00:08:49Oh, no, that's a company we haven't so far heard about.
00:08:52What can you tell us about Pell-Mell Limited?
00:08:53Well, Pell-Mell Limited held at that time 37% of the issued shares in Realm Securities.
00:09:01And who controlled this company, Pell-Mell?
00:09:03The directors of the company were Mr Crosby and Mr Dimitri Leonidas.
00:09:10Well, I hope the jury doesn't find this curious circular trail too confusing.
00:09:15What do you know about Mr Leonidas?
00:09:17Well, again, not very much.
00:09:19I gather that he's no longer resident in this country.
00:09:22Well, perhaps Mr Crosby could help you there.
00:09:24Have you asked him for news of Mr Leonidas?
00:09:26Yes, Mr Crosby was unable to help me.
00:09:28He tells me that he's not been in communication with the gentleman since he sold, that is Mr Crosby,
00:09:34sold his shares in Pell-Mell Limited, and that was in September 73.
00:09:39And what has happened to Pell-Mell Limited since then?
00:09:42They went into liquidation in March 1974.
00:09:45What was the state of its affairs at the time it went into liquidation?
00:09:48Well, as far...
00:09:49I'm sorry, my lord.
00:09:51Do you have an objection to this question, Mr Crosby?
00:09:55Yes, yes.
00:09:57I don't know whether it's relevant what became of Pell-Mell Limited after I'd severed all connection with the company,
00:10:03is it?
00:10:04It doesn't seem relevant to me.
00:10:06Is it, Miss Madison? What relevance does it have?
00:10:08Pell-Mell Limited, my lord, crops up a number of times in transactions to do with Mr Crosby's various companies.
00:10:13I think it is relevant to know something about that company and the state of its affairs when it's ceased
00:10:18to trade.
00:10:19But you do accept that Mr Crosby had no connection with that company at the time it ceased to trade?
00:10:24Oh, I do accept that, my lord.
00:10:26Then I can see that Mr Crosby has a point. I shall not allow the question.
00:10:29If I may beg your lordship's indulgence.
00:10:31This Mr Leonidas was closely associated with the accused in a number of dealings.
00:10:36If he were still in this country, I do not doubt that he would be on trial with Mr Crosby.
00:10:40That may or may not be so, Miss Madison, but he is not on trial with Mr Crosby.
00:10:45No, I shall not allow the question.
00:10:46As your lordship pleases.
00:10:49Then I go back to the loan of £20,000.
00:10:53Now, on the face of it, this would seem to be an elaborate method of shifting money from Mr Crosby's
00:10:57left-hand pocket into his right.
00:11:00What did his right-hand pocket, in this case Realm Securities, do with the money?
00:11:06Realm Securities bought shares in Land Hope investments.
00:11:11One moment, Mr Stoughton.
00:11:13Unless I have made some silly mistake, that would seem to be a complete circle.
00:11:16Yes.
00:11:17You are saying that one of Mr Crosby's companies loaned money through a Mr Harper to another of Mr Crosby's
00:11:23companies, which then bought shares in the first company?
00:11:26That is what I am saying.
00:11:29You are sure it was this money that was used to buy the shares?
00:11:33Well, the shares were bought, and at that time, Realm Securities had virtually no other funds, and that is a
00:11:41matter of record.
00:11:41Well, it is, of course, members of the jury, illegal for a company to finance dealings in its own shares.
00:11:48Thank you, my lord.
00:11:50Would it be possible for a company, artificially, to boost the price of its own shares in this way?
00:11:56Precisely, yes.
00:11:56Did that happen in this case?
00:11:58Was the effect to boost the price of Land Hope investment shares?
00:12:01Yes, the shares rose steadily during the period that we are talking about.
00:12:05Well, steadily is hardly the word.
00:12:08Rapidly.
00:12:08They went, where are we?
00:12:10They went from 18 pence to 29 pence from March to the end of April.
00:12:15Wouldn't that have seemed a very remarkable rise in price?
00:12:18Normally, it would have, yes.
00:12:20But at this time, shares in companies investing in the property sector were doing very well.
00:12:24You may remember there was something of a boom at the time in property.
00:12:28And Land Hope Investments was in the property sector, was it?
00:12:31The express purpose of the company was property and leisure investments.
00:12:36And what property could Land Hope Investments list at that time amongst its holdings?
00:12:40Well, I suppose there was the freehold on 11 Virtue Gardens.
00:12:43Which was the security for a loan of about three times its value.
00:12:47Yes, and then there was a 57-year lease on 22 Littleton Street.
00:12:52Which was the registered office of the company.
00:12:54That is right, yes.
00:12:55Was there any other property?
00:12:58Not at this time, no.
00:12:59Well, I know that mighty oaks do grow from little acorns, but in the property line of country,
00:13:05that would surely be a very tiny acorn indeed, wouldn't you say?
00:13:09Yes, it would seem so, yes.
00:13:22Inspector Rumboldt, you arrested Mr. Crosby, you say, in July of 1976?
00:13:28Yes, madam.
00:13:28Would you tell us something about the circumstances leading up to that arrest?
00:13:32I'd been investigating Mr. Crosby's affairs since February of 1975,
00:13:36when the Department of Trade informed us of certain facts relating to his business dealings.
00:13:40In August of 1975, I obtained a warrant for his arrest.
00:13:44But he was not arrested until July of 1976. Why was that?
00:13:48Mr. Crosby was not in this country, to my knowledge, between September of 1974 and July of 1976.
00:13:55Why did he re-enter the country?
00:13:57Well, he arrived at Fultester Airport on July the 18th,
00:14:00under the impression that a buyer had been found for his house.
00:14:02He came to complete that transaction.
00:14:05You say under the impression?
00:14:07Yes, I say under the impression because I also had heard he'd found a buyer.
00:14:11It had come to my notice that the house, it was a house called Cople in Ovulton, Magna,
00:14:15I'd been put into the hands of agents to be sold.
00:14:17I spoke to the agents.
00:14:19They told me the owner was abroad and was asking £100,000 for it.
00:14:22I gather there was a certain amount of to-and-froing about the price
00:14:25before Mr. Crosby finally agreed on a figure of £85,000.
00:14:30Er, that is what I was told.
00:14:32Surely the agents were in a position to complete such a sale.
00:14:35Why was it necessary for Mr. Crosby to be present?
00:14:38Er, because I understand that the buyer wanted to pay a good part of the money in cash.
00:14:42Were the agents acting for Mr. Crosby perfectly happy with this arrangement?
00:14:46Oh, it would seem so.
00:14:48I, er, I believe the buyer was a bookie.
00:14:50I don't know whether that has any bearing.
00:14:52And then you had, I suppose, just to wait in the hope that this would bring Mr. Crosby home.
00:14:56That was the idea.
00:14:58If you're buying a signature for a lot of cash,
00:15:00you want to see the ink drying before you hand over.
00:15:03That's the line I thought he would take.
00:15:05Clearly this deception worked.
00:15:07I was almost surprised, yes.
00:15:09The daftest things do work.
00:15:12I was able to meet Mr. Crosby at the airport.
00:15:14I didn't meet him, and I arrested him.
00:15:16He was later released on two surities of £25,000.
00:15:20Have you examined the records of Mr. Crosby's bank accounts?
00:15:24No.
00:15:27Er, there were three bank accounts we went into.
00:15:30A current account at Corning's bank in Lombard Street,
00:15:34a deposit account at the same bank,
00:15:36and a current account at the Scottish Provincial Bank in Ladbroke Grove.
00:15:40What was the state of this last account in December of 1971?
00:15:43Oh, it was overdrawn by £158.
00:15:48What about the other accounts at Corning's?
00:15:50Well, these accounts were not opened until January 1972,
00:15:54but he placed £1,538 on deposit,
00:15:57and later transferred £500 to open a current account.
00:16:02Do you happen to know where he got this money?
00:16:04It was left to him by his mother.
00:16:06I have seen a copy of the will.
00:16:08Well, it seems he did not choose to pay off his overdraft for this money,
00:16:10but he opened two new accounts instead.
00:16:14Still, in spite of having three bank accounts,
00:16:16Mr. Crosby was not what you would call a rich man at this time,
00:16:19or did you find any other deposits?
00:16:22No.
00:16:23Where was the accused living at this time?
00:16:26At 22 Littlewood Street, West 10.
00:16:28Now, that is an address already familiar to the jury,
00:16:30as the registered address of two companies run by Mr. Crosby.
00:16:34Did he own this house?
00:16:35No.
00:16:36He inherited a lease with 57 years remaining from his mother.
00:16:40We have heard that this lease was part of the assets of Landhope Investments.
00:16:44I take it this is the same lease?
00:16:46Er, yes, madam.
00:16:50What sort of house was it, by the way?
00:16:52It was a big house, four floors, terraced, but it had gone down a lot.
00:16:57A very good house when it was built, but, as I say, the area had gone down.
00:17:02They tell me it's coming up again now.
00:17:04What sort of value?
00:17:05Oh, I wouldn't like to hazard a guess.
00:17:07So, at that time, Mr. Crosby had a lease on a house of uncertain value
00:17:11and about 1,500 pounds in the bank.
00:17:14Did he have any other property that you know of?
00:17:17No, madam.
00:17:18If we may look ahead a little, inspector.
00:17:21What was the state of these accounts in the period before September 1974?
00:17:26Well, in July of that year, Mr. Crosby's balance in the current account was £117,000,
00:17:33and in his deposit account, £16,000.
00:17:37Er, these are the accounts at Corning's.
00:17:39Are you quite sure you have them the right way round?
00:17:42Yes, madam.
00:17:43The very large amount was in the current account and the smaller on deposit.
00:17:47Yes, madam.
00:17:50What happened to these deposits between July and September?
00:17:54Well, Mr. Crosby made a number of large withdrawals.
00:17:57Four from the current account, one from the deposit account.
00:18:01Er, this was over a period of nine weeks, roughly fortnightly.
00:18:04He then closed both accounts.
00:18:07You mean he withdrew the lot?
00:18:08Yes.
00:18:09All in cash.
00:18:11All in cash.
00:18:14What, by the way, was the state of his account at the Scottish provincial?
00:18:19Oh, that was still overdrawn.
00:18:21With the interest on the deposit, it was up to over £200.
00:18:25Well, there had clearly been a considerable change in his fortunes in those two years.
00:18:30You've said that at about this time, Mr. Crosby went abroad.
00:18:33Do you know how or when he went?
00:18:36No, not the exact date.
00:18:38Then how do you know he went abroad?
00:18:39Well, he spent some time at a hotel, St. Alceste, in Basel, madam, in Switzerland.
00:18:46How do you know that?
00:18:47Well, he paid the bill using his credit card.
00:18:49So, in less than three years, Mr. Crosby went from the house in Littlewood Street to the Coppoles in Alberton
00:18:56Magna,
00:18:56and from the discomfort of a small overdraft to a condition of considerable wealth.
00:19:02Finally, he went to Rome, having withdrawn everything from the bank in cash.
00:19:07Yes.
00:19:08What salaries did he draw for his directorships?
00:19:11The total of his drawings in salary, or do you want the individual figures?
00:19:14The total will do.
00:19:16Well, in the three years, 1971 to 1973, in fees and salary, he drew £12,438.
00:19:23That's before tax.
00:19:24Well, that seems quite modest, doesn't it?
00:19:27What figure, if any, do you have for his expenses during the same period?
00:19:30Oh, as far as I can reach.
00:19:33This is for travel expenses, entertaining, goodwill, that sort of thing.
00:19:36I can find £34,000 accounted for.
00:19:41That figure is almost three times what he drew in salary.
00:19:44It is about that.
00:19:46Yes.
00:19:48Well, we'd better go back to the beginning.
00:19:51How did Mr. Crosby come to be Chairman and Managing Director of Land Hope Investments?
00:19:56Well, the company started life as the Burma Land Hope Planters Company, ma'am.
00:20:01Oh, now, that's another company we haven't so far heard about.
00:20:03Tell us how that came to be Land Hope Investments.
00:20:06Well, Mr. Crosby inherited 100,000 shares in the company through his mother once again.
00:20:12What was the issued share capital of the company at that time, Miss Madison?
00:20:15I believe it was 200,000, my lord.
00:20:18I see.
00:20:18So Mr. Crosby, in fact, inherited half the share capital of the company.
00:20:22Precisely.
00:20:23Thank you very much.
00:20:24Please go on, Mr. Rumbolt.
00:20:26It seems to be an adventure in the 1920s to promote a tea planting scheme in Burma, madam.
00:20:32Were these valuable shares that he inherited?
00:20:35No, madam.
00:20:36They're almost worthless.
00:20:37To all intents and purposes, that company has long since vanished.
00:20:41No tea plantations in Burma?
00:20:43No, madam.
00:20:44Doesn't seem to have been a success, that scheme.
00:20:47And of what possible interest could they have been to Mr. Crosby?
00:20:50Oh, they did have some attraction. Once he bought more, which he did, he had control of a public company.
00:20:56A company that could be quoted on the stock exchange.
00:21:00Exactly.
00:21:01When did the company become Land Hope Investments?
00:21:04In January 1972, after Mr. Crosby took control, the new company was granted a new mandate for trading, which was
00:21:11to invest in property and leisure enterprises.
00:21:14Starting, if I remember, with that small acorn, 22 Littlewood Street.
00:21:18Yes, madam.
00:21:19So, Mr. Crosby now had a company whose shares could be bought and sold on the stock exchange, should anyone
00:21:24wish to buy them.
00:21:26Did anyone buy them?
00:21:28Realm Securities bought 9,000 of them at 15 pence each.
00:21:32Now, if my arithmetic is all right, that's close to 1,500 pounds worth.
00:21:36Yes, madam.
00:21:37It's about what Mr. Crosby had in the bank.
00:21:40Why should he, as Realm Securities, buy those shares?
00:21:44Well, buying them did establish a price for them.
00:21:48That is all I can say.
00:21:49But it's hard to believe that Mr. Crosby would have found other buyers at that price, or any price.
00:21:54I mean, there was nothing to draw public attention to him or his company.
00:22:00Or was there?
00:22:02Mr. Crosby received a great deal of publicity when he offered to put money into Huntley Town Football Club.
00:22:08So he did.
00:22:10I have here, my lord, a copy of a newspaper, February the 23rd, 1972.
00:22:15It is Exhibit 29.
00:22:17It shows that Mr. Crosby and his company did receive considerable publicity.
00:22:23Could you read it, please, Mr. Rumble?
00:22:25There's a picture on page three of Mr. Crosby standing in front of the Huntley Town Football Club.
00:22:31The headline reads,
00:22:32By town says Tycoon Crosby.
00:22:35It goes on.
00:22:36The Reds may be in the red and deep in trouble at the bottom of the table,
00:22:40but they're worth a cruel million to city tycoon Ronald Crosby.
00:22:44The club is sitting on a gold mine, said Crosby yesterday.
00:22:47How can they be broke?
00:22:49He waved his arm toward Huntley's hallowed turf.
00:22:53Look at it, he said.
00:22:54That's a priceless piece of real estate.
00:22:56But club directors were reeling with shock yesterday after Mr. Million spelled out his plans for the club.
00:23:02Land Hope Investments, the company Mr. Crosby heads, has plans that go far beyond mere football for the famous league
00:23:09ground.
00:23:10It is common knowledge, my lord, that nothing came of Mr. Crosby's negotiations with this club,
00:23:15except for a great deal of publicity for Mr. Crosby.
00:23:21Is it right, Inspector, that this newspaper refers to Mr. Crosby as a tycoon and Mr. Million?
00:23:28Yes.
00:23:29Was there anything in the state of Mr. Crosby's companies at that time to suggest that he could, in good
00:23:34faith,
00:23:35offer to put a million pounds into a football club?
00:23:40No.
00:23:41I was hoping I'd made that clear, madam.
00:23:58The cases in Fulchester are fictitious.
00:24:00You can join us again tomorrow when the Queen against Crosby will be resumed in the Crown Court.
00:24:20The Crosby is charged with inducing investments contrary to the Fraud Act of 1958.
00:24:25He pleads not guilty and is conducting his own defence.
00:24:29The jury in this case is selected from members of the public,
00:24:31whose names appear on the electoral register and who are eligible for jury service.
00:24:35The trial is in its second day, and the prosecution has called Nicholas Higgins into the witness box.
00:25:00You are Nicholas Higgins?
00:25:02Yes, I am.
00:25:03And you live at White Lodge, Upton Vale, Essex?
00:25:06That is correct, yes.
00:25:07How long have you known Mr. Crosby?
00:25:09Oh, six or seven years.
00:25:11Where did you meet?
00:25:12Yes, I believe that would be at the old Russell Club.
00:25:16What kind of club is that?
00:25:17Oh, very agreeable.
00:25:19It's quite well known, I think.
00:25:21Bridge.
00:25:23It's a club where people play bridge.
00:25:25It's known for that, is it?
00:25:26Yes, it is more or less the raison d'être.
00:25:30And do they play for money?
00:25:32Oh, yes.
00:25:33They play for money, yes.
00:25:35For large stakes?
00:25:37Depends on what you call large.
00:25:39Well, how much would you expect to see one or last on a rubber at the old Russell Club?
00:25:43A few pounds?
00:25:44Tens of pounds?
00:25:45Hundreds?
00:25:47Well, a hundred or two would not be unusual.
00:25:49It would depend on the play and the players, but it would not be unusual.
00:25:54Did you play often at the old Russell Club?
00:25:56I mean, were you a regular?
00:25:57I am often there.
00:25:58I don't always play, but yes, you could call me something of an habitué.
00:26:03Was Mr. Crosby an habitué?
00:26:06Yes.
00:26:07Did he play frequently?
00:26:09Yes.
00:26:10Did he play well?
00:26:11Yes, I'd say he was, is, a very skilful player.
00:26:17My lord, may I object that I do not see where these questions lead.
00:26:22I admit I play bridge, but, um, is that the question we're here to examine?
00:26:27I trust that the relevance of these questions will appear in due course, Miss Madison.
00:26:30It will, my lord.
00:26:32Six or seven years ago, through his membership for this club,
00:26:35Mr. Crosby began to move in certain circles,
00:26:37moneyed and influential circles.
00:26:40That fact was of crucial importance in his emergence as a financier.
00:26:44Yes, I see. You may carry on.
00:26:49Mr. Higgins, would you please make it clear
00:26:51what kind of membership the old Russell Club attracts?
00:26:54Oh, uh, all sorts.
00:26:56The oddest people are addicted to bridge.
00:26:59Yes, but from what you've said,
00:27:01these particular addicts must have been fairly wealthy.
00:27:04Oh, yes, I'd say. Pretty well-heeled, for the most part.
00:27:07And to your knowledge, was Mr. Crosby pretty well-heeled at this time?
00:27:10I mean, when he first started to play at the club?
00:27:12Well, I didn't really know.
00:27:13He was good for his losses, but then he much more frequently won.
00:27:17He once told me he got by on what he won at bridge.
00:27:22Did any regular partnership spring up
00:27:24between Mr. Crosby and any other player?
00:27:26Yes, he and Lord Stambleton used to play a great deal together.
00:27:29Did that association develop outside the realms of the old Russell Club?
00:27:33Yes, he used to turn up at Melchings.
00:27:36Crosby, I mean.
00:27:37Melchings, I believe, is Lord Stambleton's home.
00:27:39Yes, in Hampshire.
00:27:41You say he used to turn up.
00:27:42I take it he was invited.
00:27:44Oh, yes, of course.
00:27:45Lots of people used to turn up at Melchings.
00:27:49I mean, they still do.
00:27:50Lord Stambleton is, what's the word, gregarious sort.
00:27:55And during 1972 and 73,
00:27:58were you one of those who turned up at Melchings?
00:28:00Pretty frequently.
00:28:02Were there large parties staying at the house at these times?
00:28:04Not usually large, a dozen or so.
00:28:07At a place like Melchings,
00:28:09a dozen would be a fairly intimate gathering.
00:28:13I'm not quite sure what you mean by that.
00:28:16Well, I mean you would all have been on pretty close terms.
00:28:19Oh, yes, I suppose so.
00:28:23If we leave out Mr. Crosby for the moment,
00:28:25the others would once again be pretty well-heeled.
00:28:28Very few paupers, yes.
00:28:30In the circle of very few paupers,
00:28:32was Mr. Crosby generally liked?
00:28:35Oh, I'd say yes.
00:28:36Yes, he had the knack of generally amusing people.
00:28:39How did he amuse people?
00:28:41Well, he played the piano a bit and he could imitate people.
00:28:45And he was something of a raconteur.
00:28:47A raconteur.
00:28:48You mean he told stories?
00:28:50Oh, yes, tremendous stuff.
00:28:51You know, about his adventures in various parts of the world.
00:28:54Did you take these to be true stories?
00:28:57Well, people did, embroidered a bit in the telling,
00:28:59but yes, I suppose so.
00:29:02Can you recall an instance?
00:29:03I mean, any particular adventure of Mr. Crosby's that sticks in your mind?
00:29:07My lord, once again,
00:29:09this seems to me to be less than pertinent, if I may object.
00:29:13Does it matter what stories I may have told
00:29:16to entertain a house party on rainy days in the country?
00:29:18Perhaps you would explain what point you are making, Miss Madison.
00:29:21Gladly, my lord.
00:29:23This testimony will, I hope, show that Mr. Crosby had a certain flair for fantasizing.
00:29:28Tall stories were part of his style and tall stories are one kind of false pretense.
00:29:33The claims Mr. Crosby made about his companies were another kind of false pretense,
00:29:37another kind of tall story that he induced people to believe.
00:29:40The evidence will show how astonishingly plausible Mr. Crosby could be.
00:29:45Yes.
00:29:47Where false pretenses are alleged, Mr. Crosby,
00:29:50plausibility is clearly a relevant question.
00:29:52You may carry on, Miss.
00:29:53Thank you, my lord.
00:29:56You were about to relate something, Mr. Higgins.
00:29:58Yes.
00:29:59Well, I'm afraid I'm not a storyteller myself,
00:30:02but I do remember this extraordinary tale of Mr. Crosby's
00:30:06when he was a guest of some Arabian sheik.
00:30:10This was, oh, out in the desert somewhere.
00:30:13I don't remember where it was supposed to be.
00:30:15Could I offer to help the witness, my lord?
00:30:17It's a good story.
00:30:18I'd be pleased to tell it myself, if that'd be helpful.
00:30:20I regard that as a flippant interruption, Mr. Crosby.
00:30:23If you do that again, I shall not take it lightly.
00:30:25Sorry, my lord.
00:30:26Go on, Mr. Higgins.
00:30:27Yes, well, anyway, this sheik chappie
00:30:31apparently had a positive mania for backgammon.
00:30:35It seems he taught Crosby the general idea,
00:30:38and they played practically day and night for a week.
00:30:41Anyway, the upshot was that Crosby
00:30:43cleans the chappie out entirely.
00:30:46Oil wells, everything.
00:30:48I can't remember about the wives,
00:30:50whether he had them as well.
00:30:52There was something about the wives.
00:30:56Well, whatever.
00:30:57Anyway, comes the time for Crosby's departure,
00:31:00no transport turns up.
00:31:03Sheik doesn't lay it on, you see.
00:31:05Miles from anywhere, nothing but sand,
00:31:08pretty well stuck.
00:31:10Well, of course, he's there for days,
00:31:12and it seems nobody ate, nobody drank.
00:31:14Sheik doesn't lay it on, you see.
00:31:16Perfectly polite and charming, it seems,
00:31:19but not a morsel to be had.
00:31:22Well, after three days of this,
00:31:25Crosby finally suggests the return match sort of thing,
00:31:28and takes damn good care to lose the lot.
00:31:32And then a plane came.
00:31:36Helicopter.
00:31:37Something like that.
00:31:40Anyway.
00:31:42And this story was generally believed when Mr Crosby told it.
00:31:46Well, of course, there was a lot more to it as he related it,
00:31:49but oddly enough,
00:31:50people did believe it in a sort of way.
00:31:54Did you?
00:31:57Yes, I suppose I did.
00:32:00Yes.
00:32:01Well, we have heard of others who were prepared to believe
00:32:04that Mr Crosby was about to put a million pounds
00:32:06into a football club.
00:32:09Do you remember anything about that, by the way?
00:32:11Yes, he turned up at Melchings
00:32:13when all that business was in the papers,
00:32:15and we rather pulled his leg about it.
00:32:17You mean you did not think he was a millionaire?
00:32:19No, of course not.
00:32:20But he did surprise everybody, you see,
00:32:22because according to what he said,
00:32:24he was perfectly serious about it.
00:32:25If the club would meet his terms.
00:32:28Except that he didn't think that they would.
00:32:30He claimed to you that the offer was seriously intended?
00:32:34Yes.
00:32:35Did he claim to have the million pounds that was mentioned?
00:32:38Well, no, he was quite frank he didn't have it,
00:32:41but he could easily raise it for the scheme he had in mind.
00:32:43That's what he said.
00:32:45And you believed him?
00:32:47Well, I saw no reason not to.
00:32:49Did he explain this scheme?
00:32:52Yes, he said it was all to do with realising
00:32:54the full value of the ground and what not,
00:32:56all very reasonable.
00:32:58There was something about a synthetic turf
00:33:00they were all going to play on.
00:33:02They do in America, apparently,
00:33:04and there's no limit to the things you can do on this stuff,
00:33:07but I didn't really follow all of that.
00:33:09And then something about Fulham could rent Chelsea's ground
00:33:14when they weren't playing
00:33:15and lease it out with this American turf stuff on it,
00:33:19and that would make much more money.
00:33:21But I can't really remember all of the details.
00:33:25Mr. Crosby said all that?
00:33:28Yes.
00:33:28He said the thing to be in was a combination of property
00:33:31and what he called the leisure industry
00:33:34because both were due for a boom.
00:33:36Well, you can't say that he wasn't right.
00:33:39Did he encourage those present to invest in his scheme?
00:33:44Well, it wasn't as simple as that, no.
00:33:46He said that he'd inherited a bit of cash
00:33:48and that was the sort of thing that he was going to do with it.
00:33:51When you say a bit of cash,
00:33:52do you mean you got the idea that he'd inherited a lot of money?
00:33:56Oh, yes, I suppose so.
00:33:57More than £1,500, sir.
00:34:00Oh, yes, I mean something substantial.
00:34:03And it did seem he's been doing rather well over those few months.
00:34:07Why did you get that impression?
00:34:09Oh, something about his manner.
00:34:12It wasn't that he was touting for people to invest in whatever it was.
00:34:17If anything, he was a bit cagey.
00:34:19But then people are cagey when they're making money.
00:34:23Anyway, I suppose that was the clever thing, really.
00:34:26Did you have any conversation with him
00:34:28about putting money into any of his schemes?
00:34:31Yes, I did.
00:34:32Could you tell us how that conversation went?
00:34:34Yes, he told me the Land Hope Company
00:34:37had quite a bit of property in London
00:34:38and that it was still written in the books at 1950s valuations,
00:34:43but that a new audit would, you know, revalue them upwards,
00:34:46put a more realistic figure on them,
00:34:48and that, of course, would double the capital assets,
00:34:51which would be fine.
00:34:52With anyone with the shares, if you follow that.
00:34:56Oh, yes, I follow that.
00:34:58He was, in effect, advising you
00:35:00to buy Land Hope Investment shares.
00:35:02Yes, he was, but he said not to plunge in with both feet.
00:35:06Don't rock the boat sort of thing.
00:35:07He didn't want them shooting up too fast.
00:35:09That's what he said.
00:35:10Well, I assumed he had reasons for that,
00:35:13wanting to get out of other holdings or whatever.
00:35:16And as a result of all this, what did you do?
00:35:19Well, I bought shares in Land Hope Investments.
00:35:22I believed what he told me.
00:35:24How much did you invest at this time?
00:35:27£4,000, just to see how they went.
00:35:29How did they go?
00:35:30Up.
00:35:30Then what did you do?
00:35:31I bought some more.
00:35:32You did, in fact, go in with both feet.
00:35:35Well, not entirely, but I did carry on buying, yes.
00:35:39How much did you eventually put into Land Hope Investment shares?
00:35:42Well, over a period of time, about £12,000.
00:35:46Did you advise anybody else to buy these shares?
00:35:49I did mention it to one or two of my friends.
00:35:51And on your advice, did they buy?
00:35:52I believe some of them did, yes.
00:35:54And throughout 1972, while you and others were steadily buying these shares,
00:35:58what happened to them?
00:35:59They went up.
00:36:00I believe that is the usual result of steady buying, yes.
00:36:04Did you hear of anybody else buying these shares?
00:36:07Well, Sir Reginald Watson Horrier told me that he'd bought some.
00:36:11Do you remember any particular occasion on which you met Sir Reginald
00:36:14in Mr. Crosby's company?
00:36:15Yes, he took us to lunch on one occasion.
00:36:18Crosby, I mean.
00:36:19Can you tell us what happened on that occasion?
00:36:22Yes, I came up to town by train and Crosby met me with his car.
00:36:26What kind of car did he have, by the way?
00:36:28Oh, it was a Bentley at this time, I think.
00:36:32It was June of 1972.
00:36:34Yes, please go on, Mr. Higgins.
00:36:36Well, I remember Sir Reginald was in the car when I was met
00:36:39and we took off to go to some place near Maidenhead.
00:36:42I remember we passed through a car wash on the way.
00:36:45He was quite odd like that.
00:36:47He couldn't pass a car wash without driving through it.
00:36:50I mean, wherever you went with Tommy, Mr. Crosby,
00:36:54you would go via a car wash.
00:36:56It was quite extraordinary.
00:36:58What else occurred on this journey?
00:37:01Yes, I remember we were going along somewhere near the Euston Road
00:37:04when suddenly he stopped and took us to look at a building site.
00:37:08It was just, you know, enormous holes in the ground
00:37:11with a great big whatever it is that pours out the concrete.
00:37:16Absolute oceans of concrete.
00:37:18And he said how exciting it all was to see this going up
00:37:20and that when it was finished,
00:37:21it would be an invaluable office building and so on.
00:37:24And then we drove on to lunch.
00:37:28But I got the feeling that Crosby was connected
00:37:31with this building that was going on.
00:37:35He gave you that impression?
00:37:37Yes, he did.
00:37:39Do you know whether Sir Reginald Watson Horrier
00:37:42sustained the same impression?
00:37:44Well, I know he did because not long ago he told me as much.
00:37:47But the funny thing is, you see,
00:37:49he thought that I was in it together with Crosby
00:37:52and I thought that he was.
00:37:54Did either of you, in fact,
00:37:56have any connection with the development in question?
00:37:59Not in the slightest.
00:38:00And to the best of your knowledge,
00:38:02did Mr Crosby have any connection with it?
00:38:05Well, I've seen the building since
00:38:07and I don't see how he could have.
00:38:09It's part of the university.
00:38:25Did you invest in any other scheme of Mr Crosby's?
00:38:29Yes, in his Land Hope Britannia Trust.
00:38:31That was the unit trust he launched in August of 1972?
00:38:34That's right, yes.
00:38:35Obviously you thought that this would be a sound investment.
00:38:38Why did you think that?
00:38:39Well, the property business had gone mad, hadn't it?
00:38:42The value of everything was on a rocket
00:38:44and it did seem that Crosby had managed to ride the crest of the whole thing.
00:38:48How much did you put into this trust?
00:38:50Four thousand.
00:38:51Making a total of sixteen thousand invested with Mr Crosby?
00:38:55That's right.
00:38:57What is the present value of those holdings?
00:38:59Well, at the moment they're not saleable.
00:39:01They don't yield anything.
00:39:03There may be something left after the receiver's gone through it all,
00:39:06but not very much.
00:39:08You are saying that they are virtually worthless?
00:39:12Yes, I am.
00:39:13How do you feel about that, Mr Higgins?
00:39:18Cheated.
00:39:21Thank you, Mr Higgins.
00:39:28Did you really believe the story about the Sheik of Araby?
00:39:32I have said that.
00:39:33Nicholas, it was a yarn for a rainy day.
00:39:37I certainly didn't expect it to be taken as gospel.
00:39:40I'm sure the jury can make up their own minds about that.
00:39:45You suggested that I contrive to give you and Sir Reginald Watson Horrier
00:39:50a simultaneous misconception about a building project.
00:39:54Do you still maintain that?
00:39:55I maintain...
00:39:58I stand by what I've said and all its implications.
00:40:02I'm at a loss to know how I could have done that.
00:40:04How, with you standing beside me,
00:40:06could I have told Sir Reginald that you were my partner when you weren't?
00:40:09That is the impression you conveyed.
00:40:11Are you deaf, even slightly, perhaps in one ear?
00:40:14No, I'm not.
00:40:17To the best of your knowledge, is Sir Reginald hard of hearing?
00:40:21No.
00:40:22Then how could I have told you in his hearing
00:40:25that he was my partner when he wasn't?
00:40:27I don't know how.
00:40:28There was a lot of noise on that building site.
00:40:30One had to raise one's voice to be heard.
00:40:32I didn't catch every word you uttered.
00:40:33Oh, so not only did I carry out this impossible deception,
00:40:36but I did it yelling at the top of my voice.
00:40:41Well, the jury can make up their minds whether that's possible or not.
00:40:47Mr. Higgins.
00:40:50When your shares went up,
00:40:52you were very naturally gratified, I think.
00:40:55Weren't you?
00:40:58Naturally.
00:40:58And when they went down, you were dismayed, I suppose.
00:41:03Yes, well, these things are a gamble.
00:41:05It's in the nature of the stock exchange.
00:41:07A speculation can go either way.
00:41:10You won and then you lost.
00:41:12And that about sums it up.
00:41:13Wouldn't you agree?
00:41:14I don't think it's a gamble
00:41:15when one of the players runs off with the kitty.
00:41:18That's generally regarded as cheating.
00:41:20I did not run away with the kitty, Mr. Higgins.
00:41:23A worldwide recession ran away with the kitty.
00:41:25The market that boomed in 1972 collapsed in 1973.
00:41:31Now, do you blame all that on me?
00:41:32I don't think the recession had very much to do with it.
00:41:35Nonetheless, it's an historical fact.
00:41:39When you lost heavily on shares in these companies,
00:41:42did you harbour any feelings of resentment towards me?
00:41:46I can't deny that I did.
00:41:49Did you have any other reason for feeling that way towards me?
00:41:53No.
00:41:54Of all my friends at that time,
00:41:57you are the only one to bring evidence against me.
00:42:00Isn't there another reason,
00:42:01apart from financial loss, for your resentment?
00:42:04No, there isn't.
00:42:05You are a homosexual, aren't you?
00:42:09Aren't you?
00:42:11I don't see why it's necessary to mention that.
00:42:14Well, you were once rather attracted to me, weren't you?
00:42:17How shall I say?
00:42:19We enjoyed a slightly flirtatious relationship, didn't we?
00:42:23I wouldn't say that at all.
00:42:25I'm not saying you did anything improper, Nicholas,
00:42:27and I confess I may have led you on,
00:42:30but you must admit we had a certain relationship,
00:42:32a close relationship.
00:42:35Perhaps once.
00:42:37And didn't you resent it when I...
00:42:41when that relationship faded?
00:42:42No.
00:42:43Not when I became engaged as Cynthia Watson-Holly?
00:42:45No.
00:42:46You said some unkind things about her.
00:42:48Well, I certainly don't remember doing so.
00:42:50Did you never call her a spiteful little car?
00:42:53No, I did not.
00:42:54I may not have liked her,
00:42:55but that's neither here nor there,
00:42:56and I certainly didn't have a homosexual relationship with you.
00:43:00We met, as I think you've said,
00:43:02at the old Russell Club.
00:43:04Now, that's well known in its way, isn't it?
00:43:07It is a club where people go to play bridge.
00:43:10And what else?
00:43:12Nothing, as far as I'm aware.
00:43:13I was once a member, too, Nicholas.
00:43:15It's known as a homosexual's club, isn't it?
00:43:18I don't think the members are exclusively one thing or another.
00:43:21Not exclusively, no,
00:43:22and I'm not saying there is anything improper
00:43:24about the old Russell Club
00:43:25or anything that goes on in it,
00:43:27but I am saying that it is a gentleman's club
00:43:29and that the gentleman it attracts
00:43:30include a large number of homosexuals.
00:43:33Well-heeled, eminently respectable homosexuals.
00:43:38Now, isn't that true?
00:43:41Well, maybe to some extent.
00:43:45I'm not trying to distress you, Nicholas.
00:43:47These are just facts that I am prepared to face.
00:43:52I don't wish to press things any further than I have to.
00:43:55I must say, my lord, it is not clear to me
00:43:57why Mr. Crosby needs to press this matter at all.
00:43:59Yes, I think we might ask what bearing this has, Mr. Crosby.
00:44:03My lord, nothing of this seems to me discreditable.
00:44:06Or if it is in any way,
00:44:08then surely it reflects equally upon me.
00:44:10But I think it does show to what extent
00:44:12the witness's memory of things
00:44:14may be coloured by resentment.
00:44:17And perhaps it will explain
00:44:19why Mr. Higgins alone,
00:44:20of all the investors in the companies,
00:44:23is here to bring evidence against me today.
00:44:28Now, this evidence bears on aspects of my life which will show to the jury
00:44:33why I left the country in 1974.
00:44:37The prosecution has laid great emphasis on the fact that I did that,
00:44:40but the reasons are much more complicated than has appeared so far.
00:44:44And I think, my lord, that it is important for the jury to know these things.
00:44:47I think I see your drift.
00:44:49You may carry on, Mr. Crosby.
00:44:51Thank you, your lordship.
00:44:54Now, if we are to be frank about it, Nicholas,
00:44:57that's why I was invited down to Melchings in the first place, isn't it?
00:45:01Because you and I enjoyed the relationship we did.
00:45:04Lord Stambleton invited you.
00:45:06I was hardly in a position to do that.
00:45:08But I was invited as a friend of yours.
00:45:10Well, yes, you may have been.
00:45:12And that's why you took whatever I may have told you
00:45:15about Land Hope investments
00:45:17as something of a privileged confidence, isn't it?
00:45:20I took it as a confidence, yes.
00:45:22And the fact is, you did exactly what I told you not to do, didn't you?
00:45:25You jumped in with both feet.
00:45:26I bought shares, certainly.
00:45:28Well, you bought them, it would seem pretty eagerly.
00:45:31You hope to make a good profit.
00:45:34And because of our relationship,
00:45:35you more or less thought that I had invited you to do so.
00:45:39Isn't that it?
00:45:40No.
00:45:43And you needed cash, didn't you?
00:45:46We can all do with a little cash.
00:45:49No, but you had specially pressing reasons for raising cash, didn't you?
00:45:52Not that I'm aware of.
00:45:54Have you ever been the victim of blackmail?
00:45:55My lord, I have the strongest objection.
00:45:58And well you might, Miss Madison.
00:45:59I cannot allow you to pursue criminal allegations
00:46:02that have nothing to do with the case, Mr. Crosby.
00:46:04I'm sorry, my lord.
00:46:06I take back the question.
00:46:07But Mr. Higgins, for whom I have a great deal of respect,
00:46:12was very much a part of what the prosecution has called
00:46:15the circles in which I moved.
00:46:17We had things in common.
00:46:20Not things that would endear us to everybody.
00:46:24The fact is that men with homosexual leanings
00:46:28can be very vulnerable to blackmail.
00:46:31Not as much as they were at one time, no,
00:46:33but it is still very easy for them to find themselves in that position.
00:46:38Especially if they happen to be wealthy or eminent
00:46:40or hold positions of trust.
00:46:42Now, I don't know about Mr. Higgins' experience,
00:46:45but I can admit to the court
00:46:48that I was blackmailed.
00:46:52It was that mainly that caused my collapse.
00:46:55Not the collapse of my companies,
00:46:57though they must have been affected by what was happening to me,
00:47:00but the collapse of myself as a person.
00:47:03And if I ran away from everything that was falling down round me,
00:47:08that is why.
00:47:31The cases in Fulchester are fictitious.
00:47:34You can join us again tomorrow
00:47:35when the Queen against Crosby will be concluded
00:47:38in the Crown Court.
00:47:52Ronald Devera Edward Crosby
00:47:54is charged with inducing investments
00:47:56contrary to the Fraud Act of 1958.
00:47:58He pleads not guilty
00:48:00and is conducting his own defence.
00:48:02The jury in this case is selected from members of the public
00:48:05whose names appeared on the electoral register
00:48:07and who are eligible for jury service.
00:48:09The trial is in its third day
00:48:11and Crosby has chosen to make a statement on oath.
00:48:33On the face of it,
00:48:34companies of which I was a director
00:48:36made money available to me for my own use.
00:48:40Not all of these loans were repaid.
00:48:44But a loan is not improper
00:48:46because it is not repaid.
00:48:48You have heard about loans that were repaid
00:48:50and repaid at commercially acceptable rates of interest.
00:48:53Those loans were not improper.
00:48:56Was it proper, in a broad sense, you may ask,
00:49:00for these companies to lend money to me at all?
00:49:02The answer is yes
00:49:04because my expertise, my judgment
00:49:06of what it was worth
00:49:08was the major managerial asset those companies possessed.
00:49:12That indeed was the whole purpose,
00:49:15principle, if you like, of their existence.
00:49:17They did not exist to make shoes
00:49:19or toothpaste but to manage money
00:49:21and the skill in managing money
00:49:23on which they depended was my skill.
00:49:26Therefore, it was perfectly in order
00:49:28for me to deploy that money.
00:49:31Now, it would not have been proper
00:49:32if they had been hidden or not recorded.
00:49:35No, that would have been like
00:49:36dipping into the petty cash.
00:49:37But they were recorded fully and openly
00:49:40in the company's accounts.
00:49:43Now, why were they not repaid?
00:49:47Because two things happened together.
00:49:50My personal collapse
00:49:51and the disastrous collapse
00:49:53of the market in which I worked.
00:49:55My breakdown is something I have to explain.
00:50:00I was under very great pressure
00:50:01in those two years, 1973-74.
00:50:05You have heard a witness say I foresaw a boom.
00:50:07Well, like others, I also foresaw a crash.
00:50:11For me, as a man in whom others had placed their faith,
00:50:14the writing on the wall was very ominous.
00:50:16Not because I'd misused their money.
00:50:19But because I was expected
00:50:20to work impossible miracles with it.
00:50:25There was another pressure.
00:50:28I was engaged to be married
00:50:30to Cynthia Watson-Horrier,
00:50:32the daughter of a well-respected politician,
00:50:34as I'm sure you know.
00:50:37When we met,
00:50:39I was generally thought to be rich and clever.
00:50:43By the date fixed for our marriage,
00:50:46I thought I could see
00:50:48that I might well be ruined.
00:50:50A failure.
00:50:53You know, too,
00:50:54that there were homosexual episodes in my past.
00:50:58Cynthia knew,
00:50:59and she was wise enough and mature enough
00:51:02and loved me enough to understand these things.
00:51:05But she did not know everything.
00:51:07And I did not have the courage to tell her everything.
00:51:09And I think that was my biggest weakness.
00:51:12Because there was something shameful in my past
00:51:16that I paid to keep hidden.
00:51:19I was blackmailed.
00:51:22And when finally I thought
00:51:24that Cynthia had abandoned me as well,
00:51:28I was wrong,
00:51:29but that's what I thought.
00:51:30When that happened,
00:51:31I broke down entirely and I ran.
00:51:35I did not run from my creditors
00:51:37or the law
00:51:37or my shareholders.
00:51:38I ran from all that failure.
00:51:40It crushed me,
00:51:41and I couldn't stand the pressure anymore.
00:51:43But that is not a crime.
00:51:46It may not have been very courageous,
00:51:48but at that point,
00:51:49I had no courage left.
00:51:52Perhaps if I'd had a little,
00:51:54then the companies which depended
00:51:55on my financial courage
00:51:56might have been saved.
00:51:58But they weren't.
00:51:59They failed.
00:52:01And that is why I'm here today.
00:52:04Not because I cheated,
00:52:06but because I failed.
00:52:12Thank you for listening to me.
00:52:16Why didn't you pay off your overdraft, Mr Crosby?
00:52:19What overdraft?
00:52:20The one on your account
00:52:21at the Scottish Provincial.
00:52:22A very modest,
00:52:23well, modest by your standards.
00:52:26158 pounds in 1971.
00:52:27It is more now, of course.
00:52:30I'm afraid it was something I overlooked.
00:52:31Surely the bank must have sent you
00:52:33frequent or at least regular reminders.
00:52:36I can't remember getting any
00:52:37or I'd have dealt with it.
00:52:40Well, the bank did send you statements, Mr Crosby.
00:52:42I have copies before me now.
00:52:4487 to 90 in the bundle, my lord.
00:52:48I'm afraid they did not come to my attention.
00:52:51Mr Crosby, you're not the kind of man
00:52:52who runs away from his debts, are you?
00:52:54You are the kind who simply doesn't pay them
00:52:55if it doesn't feel like it.
00:52:58No.
00:53:02Tell us something about this blackmail business.
00:53:05What do you want me to tell you?
00:53:07Mr Crosby,
00:53:08I have already made it clear
00:53:09that we need not go into this matter.
00:53:11With respect, your lordship made that comment
00:53:12in connection with Mr Higgins' evidence.
00:53:15That is so, Miss Madison,
00:53:16but the spirit of what I said then applies here also.
00:53:19I'm indebted to your lordship.
00:53:21Without going into details, Mr Crosby,
00:53:24did you ever report the matter to the police?
00:53:29It would involve a scandal, not just for me.
00:53:32Anyway, it wouldn't matter to me anymore.
00:53:34It would involve other people as well,
00:53:36and I don't wish to do that.
00:53:39The worst of it was I never knew.
00:53:41I still don't know who it was.
00:53:43Did you tell us you paid large sums in cash
00:53:45to a blackmailer without ever knowing who that was?
00:53:49How did you make these payments?
00:53:52I used to receive ridiculous, complicated instructions.
00:53:56Almost always I had to leave the money on trains,
00:53:59in empty compartments.
00:54:01After I left the money, I then left the train.
00:54:04The police will no doubt be interested in these allegations.
00:54:07They will wish to investigate.
00:54:08Will you assist them?
00:54:10As far as I can, I suppose so.
00:54:11You suppose so.
00:54:14Did you ever think of going to the police before?
00:54:17Of course I did.
00:54:18I thought about that and every other possibility.
00:54:20Oh, what other possibilities?
00:54:22Like doing away with myself.
00:54:25Yes, I can see that it must have been depressing.
00:54:28Do you still, from time to time,
00:54:30think of doing away with yourself?
00:54:33No.
00:54:36Because, oddly enough,
00:54:37the problems that depressed me
00:54:38no longer overwhelm me.
00:54:41It's ironical, but being bankrupt
00:54:42is a great relief in many ways.
00:54:45Bankrupt? But you're not a bankrupt, are you?
00:54:47I was using the word loosely, not technically.
00:54:49I would have thought you were using the word very loosely indeed
00:54:51if you mean that you have no money.
00:54:53Now, I have made an edition of your drawings,
00:54:56your profits on share dealings,
00:54:57the unrepaid loans and so on
00:54:58in the three years before you left the country.
00:55:00I think my arithmetic is on the conservative side.
00:55:02I arrive at a figure of 338,000 pounds.
00:55:09Has it all gone?
00:55:12That's an imaginary figure.
00:55:14The figures I have used are a matter of record.
00:55:17Do you accept that this amount came into your hands?
00:55:20You're including a lot of money I owe.
00:55:23That's not money I have.
00:55:24You could hardly owe it without having had it.
00:55:26I thought you were suggesting it was money I had.
00:55:28Now, it has been pointed out.
00:55:30I used to spend pretty freely.
00:55:32The way I lived then has been described.
00:55:33But much of that was supported by your company expenses,
00:55:35which I have not included.
00:55:37You spent a good deal, yes?
00:55:39But a third of a million pounds?
00:55:45Really?
00:55:49It's gone.
00:55:52However little remains, what do you have left?
00:55:55When the creditors have been paid, I will have nothing at all.
00:55:59How much do you have to give the creditors?
00:56:05Oh, I was thinking of the assets of the companies,
00:56:07my house and so forth.
00:56:09And I am talking about money, Mr. Crosby,
00:56:11like the money you draw from Corning's Bank in Lombard Street.
00:56:14£117,000 from your current account,
00:56:17£16,000 from your deposit account.
00:56:18Now, what became of that?
00:56:21Did you leave that on a train?
00:56:23Some of it.
00:56:24How much of it?
00:56:27£20,000.
00:56:28No, I'm sorry, £25,000.
00:56:31Still, not such a large slice to leave on a train.
00:56:34So British Rail did not go away with £133,000.
00:56:38You're forgetting about tax.
00:56:39You see, capital gains tax accounts for almost all the rest.
00:56:42Oh, you're saying you paid your tax on capital gains
00:56:45before you left and you paid it in cash.
00:56:46No, no, I am not saying that.
00:56:49My tax for those last two years is still in dispute.
00:56:52But I think, when it's agreed,
00:56:54that's probably the sum I will have to find.
00:56:56And you have put it by.
00:56:58I have made provision, yes.
00:57:00Then where is it?
00:57:02In a bank account in Guernsey.
00:57:04Now this is news.
00:57:05I wonder why you have never mentioned this before.
00:57:08It is surely an asset that the receiver ought to know about.
00:57:12No, I regard that as the tax man's money, not mine.
00:57:15Then what is he doing in Guernsey?
00:57:16Why not leave it just as cosily in Lombard Street?
00:57:19Because I did not want it to be confused
00:57:21with the assets of Realm and Land Hope Securities,
00:57:24and I'll tell you why.
00:57:26If, and I say if,
00:57:28I am found to have contravened the Companies Act,
00:57:31I will pay fines amounting to a hundred or two.
00:57:34But I am certain enough of my innocence
00:57:36of any charge of fraud
00:57:39that I do not fear the outcome of this trial.
00:57:43But if I cannot find the money to pay the tax man,
00:57:46I will go to jail, and I don't want to.
00:57:48So I made provision.
00:57:49Your forethought is an example to us all, Mr. Crosby.
00:57:53But it occurs to me
00:57:55that you had this uncommonly large sum of money
00:57:58in a current account.
00:58:00Now, the bank would pay no interest on money
00:58:02in a current account.
00:58:03It is exactly the money
00:58:04that would not automatically come to the tax man's notice.
00:58:08Isn't that odd?
00:58:12On that note, Mr. Crosby,
00:58:14let me follow your lead back to fraud.
00:58:17You did induce Mr. Higgins to buy Land Hope shares,
00:58:21did you not?
00:58:21I advised him.
00:58:22He could have taken other advice.
00:58:24Were you confident that he would pass this advice on to others?
00:58:27I didn't ask him to.
00:58:28Quite the reverse.
00:58:29Nonetheless, you might have known that he would.
00:58:31I mean, you have explained that you knew him quite well.
00:58:33I had no way of knowing that he would pass on what I told him.
00:58:36Surely you knew him well enough
00:58:37to be able to estimate his discretion in that way?
00:58:40I am obviously not that wise.
00:58:42And I put it to you that you are that wise, Mr. Crosby,
00:58:44and that you told him what you did
00:58:46in the near certain hope that he would pass it on to his friends.
00:58:48That is just not so.
00:58:49You gave him the impression that you had inherited property in London?
00:58:53I had.
00:58:54Oh, yes.
00:58:55A 57-year lease on a house of uncertain value.
00:58:57It's property, yes,
00:58:58but it's not what Mr. Higgins thought you meant by property, now, is it?
00:59:02Mr. Higgins may have misunderstood.
00:59:04Oh, you may have exaggerated.
00:59:05I put it to you that you exaggerated a great deal.
00:59:08No, I don't think I did.
00:59:09Oh, did you say,
00:59:10look here, I've just inherited a 57-year lease
00:59:13on a fairly unprepossessing house.
00:59:14I have made it over to a company of mine
00:59:16which has no other assets.
00:59:17Why don't you buy shares in it?
00:59:19Is that the way the conversation went?
00:59:21Obviously not.
00:59:22Very obviously not.
00:59:24Land Hope Investments did buy other property.
00:59:26Yes, later it did,
00:59:27but at that time when you spoke to Mr. Higgins,
00:59:29it had none to speak of.
00:59:30Isn't that right?
00:59:31Right.
00:59:32Yes.
00:59:33Yes, and you started by telling it all story
00:59:36in your usual plausible way,
00:59:37and the money you got in that way
00:59:39was the foundation of your success, now, wasn't it?
00:59:41By no means.
00:59:42I put it to you that it was, Mr. Crosby,
00:59:44but when Mr. Sayre, your auditor,
00:59:46discovered that your accounts
00:59:48were really not quite as plausible as you were,
00:59:50then you ran away, didn't you?
00:59:52Yes, yes, I ran away, I did run away,
00:59:54but not because I'd defrauded people,
00:59:56because I'd failed people,
00:59:57all sorts of people, including myself.
01:00:03I don't know whether you'd understand that.
01:00:05Because you were depressed or love-lorn,
01:00:07paying a blackmailer?
01:00:10Mr. Crosby, I put it to you
01:00:12that you ran away because your fiddle
01:00:13was in essence so crude
01:00:15that when the time came,
01:00:16there was nothing else for it.
01:00:18You took your money and you ran, didn't you?
01:00:21I had very little money left by then.
01:00:24Oh, yes, of course.
01:00:24I mean, you'd given so much to a blackmailer,
01:00:26hadn't you?
01:00:28A lot of it went that way, yes.
01:00:31Oh, really, Mr. Crosby,
01:00:33there was no blackmailer.
01:00:35It's all my eye, isn't it?
01:00:50Lord Stampleton,
01:00:51did you ever put money into any company headed by me?
01:00:55Yes.
01:00:56I had a few thousand shares in Land Hope at one time.
01:00:59And were you happy with that investment?
01:01:01Yes, I think I made a modest profit on them.
01:01:03What made you buy them?
01:01:05I bought them on the advice of my broker.
01:01:07And who is your broker?
01:01:08Cicel Hampson of Dawes and Harris.
01:01:11Are you sure that you didn't buy them at my instigation
01:01:13or because of any suggestion of mine?
01:01:16The only advice I listen to is Cicel's.
01:01:18I mean, people are always advising one
01:01:20about what to do with one's money.
01:01:22I don't listen.
01:01:22I leave it all to Cicel.
01:01:24And are Dawes and Harris
01:01:25a reputable firm of brokers?
01:01:27Absolutely.
01:01:29So you bought shares in a company of mine
01:01:32on advice of the best and most reputable kind?
01:01:35That's fair to say, yes.
01:01:37Did I ever offer you advice
01:01:39about what to do with your money?
01:01:41You didn't.
01:01:42It's a great thing in your favour.
01:01:43Lots of people do.
01:01:44Lord Stampleton, I dislike mentioning this,
01:01:46but you are one of the richest men I know.
01:01:49Now, did I ever, by false pretenses
01:01:50or real pretenses, whatever they might be,
01:01:53induce you to part with a penny?
01:01:56Only at cards.
01:01:58And how long have you known me?
01:02:00About seven years or so.
01:02:01Is that about right?
01:02:02I think you have to say how long.
01:02:04About that, my lord.
01:02:06Then you have seen my rise and you've seen my fall.
01:02:09You know how others have reacted towards me.
01:02:12You are obviously aware of what this trial might mean to me.
01:02:16How do you feel towards me now?
01:02:17I regard you as a friend.
01:02:19Does nothing that you now know
01:02:20strain your loyalty as a friend in any way?
01:02:23No.
01:02:23I do not believe you've done anything dishonourable.
01:02:27Even though you know that a great many people
01:02:29lost money in my company?
01:02:31The world is full of bad losers.
01:02:33If you can't bear a loss, then you shouldn't take a risk,
01:02:35and I think that's all there is to it.
01:02:38Were you surprised when I left the country?
01:02:42Not altogether, no.
01:02:44Why weren't you?
01:02:45I knew you'd been under a lot of strain,
01:02:47and, well, you'd taken rather a lot of knocks.
01:02:50Was there a particular time
01:02:51at which you learned my state of mind?
01:02:53Yes.
01:02:54We had dinner not long before you left, I believe.
01:02:56You were rather full of your troubles.
01:02:59How would you describe my state of mind at that time?
01:03:02Very distraught.
01:03:03You seem to believe that the knives were out,
01:03:05that they were after you for their pound of flesh.
01:03:08Well, the prosecution paint a picture of me
01:03:11as a piratical speculator
01:03:13gleefully running away with his plunder.
01:03:15Is that how I seem to you?
01:03:17No.
01:03:18You were extremely distraught and depressed at the time.
01:03:21Did I ever mention the subject of blackmail?
01:03:25Well, the word came up.
01:03:27What did you think I meant by it?
01:03:29At the time, I thought it was another way of saying
01:03:31they were out to get you.
01:03:32I didn't realise you meant actual blackmail.
01:03:34But the subject came up?
01:03:36Yes.
01:03:37And did you offer me any advice?
01:03:39I thought you ought to take a holiday, go abroad.
01:03:42Did you think that you were suggesting something dishonourable
01:03:45when you said that?
01:03:46Certainly not.
01:03:47I was extremely concerned for your health.
01:03:49I thought you were heading for a nervous breakdown.
01:03:51And that was my state at the time?
01:03:54Very much so.
01:03:56Thank you, Lord Stampleton.
01:04:03What did you eat, by the way, when you dined on this occasion?
01:04:07I believe at the Quai d'Orsay.
01:04:10That is a very expensive restaurant, is it not?
01:04:14Yes, but the food's good.
01:04:17And Mr. Crosby, was he up to it?
01:04:19I mean, his troubles hadn't spoiled his appetite for the haute cuisine.
01:04:23Well, I think that's a little unfair.
01:04:25A man still has to eat.
01:04:27I gather he often ate at Melchings.
01:04:29He was a regular guest.
01:04:30Yes.
01:04:30Together with Mr. Higgins.
01:04:32At that time?
01:04:33They were very friendly, I gather.
01:04:35Do you know Mr. Higgins well?
01:04:37Yes.
01:04:39Is Mr. Higgins a man that you would trust with a confidence?
01:04:45Well, that's rather hard to say.
01:04:47And I am asking you to say on oath, Lord Stampleton,
01:04:51whether you think Mr. Higgins is a discreet man.
01:04:57Not the most discreet man in the world, no.
01:05:00No.
01:05:01But he was the man that Mr. Crosby chose to excite
01:05:04with tales of his supposedly wonderful shares.
01:05:08I mean, he didn't tell you.
01:05:11No.
01:05:12No.
01:05:15Perhaps you are too discreet a man for such a confidence, Lord Stampleton.
01:05:26Miss Watson-Hurrier, would you say you knew me well?
01:05:30Yes.
01:05:31When was it we first met?
01:05:33In 1972, at a party that Nicholas Higgins gave.
01:05:38Did you like me when we first met?
01:05:41Not very much, no.
01:05:43Why not?
01:05:45I thought you were one of those awful people
01:05:47who just made money all the time.
01:05:48Why did you think that?
01:05:51Because everybody said it, I suppose.
01:05:54They said you were very clever and you made a lot of money.
01:05:56And that I was pretty awful.
01:05:58Oh, no, no.
01:05:59People said that you were...
01:06:01I don't know that you were such a very charming man.
01:06:04That put me off.
01:06:06Don't you like people to be charming?
01:06:09Well, I often don't like what people mean by charm.
01:06:12It's a very thin sort of thing.
01:06:14And you don't like clever people who make money, either.
01:06:17Oh, yes, I do like clever people.
01:06:19But not when that's all they do.
01:06:22So I started off in a rather poor light in your eyes.
01:06:26Yes.
01:06:26Because of, if you like, my advanced publicity.
01:06:30Yes.
01:06:32Seems to be something that happens to me.
01:06:35But after that rather hostile start,
01:06:37we became very close, as everybody knows.
01:06:42Your father is an eminent, respected man.
01:06:45What was his opinion of our relationship?
01:06:47Did he express an opinion?
01:06:50Only when he knew that you were practically living in my flat.
01:06:53What did he say then?
01:06:54He said we ought to get married, if that was how we wanted to carry on.
01:06:57And when we became engaged, was he in favour of the idea?
01:07:00Yes.
01:07:01Until everything started to go wrong for you.
01:07:04Then he was against it, very definitely.
01:07:06Did that idea change your feelings at all?
01:07:09No.
01:07:10Not at all?
01:07:10Not in any way.
01:07:12Then where were you in the summer of 1974?
01:07:16In Ibiza.
01:07:18We have a house there, my family have.
01:07:21Why were you there?
01:07:22Well I was here with everything crumbling about me.
01:07:26Well you were supposed to come out there too.
01:07:28You couldn't because of everything.
01:07:31And I was...
01:07:33Well...
01:07:34I was kept there by my family.
01:07:36Against your will?
01:07:38Yes.
01:07:39Surely not by force.
01:07:41Well no, not by force.
01:07:42Families can use all kinds of force.
01:07:44There was a kind of emotional blackmail.
01:07:46There was a lot of that.
01:07:48And my money.
01:07:49Your money?
01:07:51Well my money was in trust for me until I was 25.
01:07:53But without my father's consent, I couldn't have it until I was 30.
01:07:57And how old were you then?
01:08:0024.
01:08:01And they put pressure on you about that?
01:08:03Yes.
01:08:04Did you particularly want the money that following year?
01:08:08Yes.
01:08:09Because of the things you'd said, I knew we might very well need it.
01:08:12What sort of things had I said?
01:08:15Well you said that everything was going so badly and collapsing, you might even end up being broke.
01:08:20Was I quite frank about that?
01:08:23Completely.
01:08:25You were closer to me than anyone else in life.
01:08:28What impression did you have?
01:08:30What did you think I was doing in that last year when things went so badly?
01:08:34I knew that you were absolutely fighting to keep going.
01:08:38Did you ever hear me say or suggest that I knew of improper or illegal dealings in any of my
01:08:45companies?
01:08:46Never.
01:08:47Or that I might run away from my responsibilities?
01:08:50No.
01:08:50I knew that you felt awfully responsible for everyone, even though you weren't.
01:08:56I am being accused of fraud.
01:08:59My Lord, now taking account of everything you know of me, everything, is that something you can believe?
01:09:08No.
01:09:12That's all.
01:09:14Have you any questions of this witness, Miss Madison?
01:09:18Well I can't think that the witness has said anything very much to the point, my Lord.
01:09:21Mr. Crosby seems to be under the impression that he's being tried because he left the country,
01:09:25whereas I am interested in events long before that.
01:09:28Yes, I will ask.
01:09:32Are you still in love with Mr. Crosby?
01:09:36In love is a silly expression.
01:09:38I do love him, yes.
01:09:40Forgive my silly expression.
01:09:42Do you still hope to marry him?
01:09:44Yes, when all this is over.
01:09:47Are you interested in business matters?
01:09:51I'm not very interested in making money.
01:09:54Did Mr. Crosby tend to bore you then with lengthy explanations of all those business dealings?
01:09:59No, of course not.
01:10:00But I knew what his business was about.
01:10:03Without being really interested in business or making money.
01:10:07You're not an accountant by any chance?
01:10:10No.
01:10:11Then it would seem that you are less than competent to comment on how Mr. Crosby ran his business affairs.
01:10:17What you say may be very touching, but it doesn't carry weight.
01:10:22I have nothing further, my Lord.
01:10:25You may leave the witness box, Miss Watson-Horrier.
01:10:27Thank you very much.
01:10:29Have you any further witnesses to call, Mr. Crosby?
01:10:37No, my Lord.
01:10:44And then you will remember, members of the jury, that there was a dinner party at which Mr. Crosby spoke
01:10:48in glowing terms about the prospects for his company.
01:10:51But you should bear in mind that nothing that is said about the future prospects of a company can be
01:10:56fraudulent,
01:10:56for there can be no lies about the future.
01:10:59On the other hand, you should ask yourselves whether perhaps Mr. Crosby did not greatly exaggerate the present position and
01:11:06assets of his company.
01:11:08You must use your common sense and experience of the world, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
01:11:13to decide what evidence you will accept and what you will reject.
01:11:18For you are the sole judges of what is fact, just as I am the judge of what is law.
01:11:23And you should bear in mind...
01:11:41Will your foreman please stand?
01:11:45Have you reached a verdict upon which all of you are agreed?
01:11:49Please answer yes or no.
01:11:50Yes.
01:11:51What is your verdict?
01:11:52Please answer, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?
01:11:56Guilty.
01:12:11Next week, a chance for you to join another jury in assessing the facts
01:12:14when our cameras return to watch a leading case in the Crown Court.
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