John Palmer (criminal)
John Palmer (c. 1950 – 24 June 2015) was a British criminal involved in many illegal activities.
Early life
Born in Birmingham,[1] and reportedly dyslexic, Palmer left school at 15, and became a paraffin salesman.[2]
Brink's-Mat acquittal
In 1987, he was found not guilty in the Brink's-Mat robbery.[3] He admitted melting down gold bars from the robbery in his garden but said he did not know they were stolen.[4] He was reported by The Independent in 1993 as being subject to an asset freezing Mareva Injunction gained by Brink's-Mat from the High Court of Justice, enabling investigators to track his substantial financial resources [5] He later paid out £360,000 to Lloyd's the insurers as a result of a civil action brought against him, but continued to plead his innocence in the 1987 robbery and in 1999 claimed the authorities were persecuting him.[1] For his connection to the Brink's-Mat robbery, Palmer acquired the sobriquet of 'Goldfinger'.
Conviction for time-share fraud and later events
In 2001, he defended himself after sacking his legal team in one of the longest fraud trials in British legal history.[2] He was found guilty "of masterminding the largest timeshare fraud on record" and jailed for eight years.[6] It is reported that he swindled 20,000 people out of £30 million, but attempts by the Crown to confiscate this profit were later stopped in a court hearing.[7] Sentenced to 8 years, he served just over half of this term.[4] His fortune at the time of his conviction was estimated at about £300million,[2] but Palmer was declared bankrupt in 2005 with debts of £3.9m.[8]
In 2007, he was arrested on charges including fraud. Reportedly, he had been able to continue his criminal activities during his incarceration, following his 2001 conviction.[7] In 2009, after two years without charge in a high security Spanish jail, he was released on bail, but was required to report to court authorities every two weeks.[9]
In 2015, it was alleged by The Times from leaked Operation Tiberius files, that Palmer was protected from arrest and investigation by a clique of high-ranking corrupt Metropolitan Police officers.[10] Palmer's companions were reportedly once detained in possession of a silenced Uzi submachine gun and 380 rounds of ammunition.[10]
Death
He was murdered on 24 June 2015 at the age of 64 in his gated home of South Weald, near Brentwood, Essex[11] by a gunshot wound to the chest. The fact that he had been shot was only revealed during a post mortem as he had had open heart surgery which the wound was mistaken for.[12][13]
See also
References
- ^ a b Elizabeth Nash "Goldfingered", The Independent, 2 July 1999
- ^ a b c Jeevan Vasagar and Nick Hopkins "King of crime who became as rich as the Queen", The Guardian, 24 May 2000
- ^ John Steele "Swindler ran empire with army of thugs", telegraph.co.uk, 24 May 2001
- ^ a b Giles Tremlett "Spanish police hold 'Goldfinger' over claims he led international gang", The Guardian, 13 July 2007
- ^ Phil Davison and Michael Prestage "Victims of a sunshine fraudster: Britons are being bullied and deceived by a timeshare firm in Tenerife", The Independent, 28 February 1993
- ^ Judd, Terri (24 May 2001). "The Independent - London".
- ^ a b John Steele "Criminal with Brink's-Mat link arrested in Spain", telegraph.co.uk, 13 July 2007
- ^ "Holiday conman declared bankrupt". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ John 'Goldfinger' Palmer out on bail
- ^ a b "'Goldfinger' had been protected by corrupt police". The Times. 6 July 2015. p. 5.
- ^ ""Who killed Goldfinger? Fellow crooks he cheated out of Brink's-Mat millions? Rival timeshare sharks? Or the Albanian mafia? Sinister mystery behind shooting of a gangster once as rich as the Queen". MailOnline. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ ""Murder investigation after John 'Goldfinger' Palmer shot dead". The Guardian (Press Association). 1 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ "Notorious 'Goldfinger' Conman Found Shot Dead". Sky News. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.