There's Been a Murder! (Or has there?)

[AOR]

5 hours ago, Gladys said:

A comparatively modest home for someone who "salted a fortune away". 

Although maybe not relevant here, I've known a number of cases on the Island where people of seemingly modest means have been diddled out of fortunes. The fact that they didn't live ostentatiously perhaps somehow gives the rich and greedy swindlers an easing of their conscience, if indeed they have a conscience.

[AOR]

Before trusts were the instrument of choice life was so much easier for the greedy, greedy eager beavers of the finance industry. 

The 1970s, were the days of the sickenly so-called "Wild West" when the Isle of Man abounded with the likes of 'characters' Chris Kingston (who died abroad, some say in mysterious circumstances) and Gilbert Hunter, who left the Island rather pronto in a Learjet to Spain.

A very wealthy man living somewhat modestly on Head Road died 'of natural causes'. Gilbert 'Gil' Hunter simply forged a will and made himself the executor, and found a suitable person to claim he was the dead person's step-son and thus become the sole beneficiary. Job done. Millionaires at the stroke of a forged will (but Gil held the purse strings of course).

Aided and abetted by lawyers they got away with it, although the forged will was eventually found out. Too many big boys were implicated and so it was all swept under the carpet. The proceeds of that forged will loom yet over the city of Douglas. And the rightful recipients of the cash left to wonder if they could take on the mighty beast. They couldn't, of course.

This was decades before the motto "isle of Man Where You Can" was even dreamed of.

The above indicative case is well documented but is apparently a mere drop in the ocean of Island naughty goings on.

[Boo Gay'n]

Plus, wasn't it Jonathan Smalley who had one his employees nick a cool million squid or so from the client account?  That guy was nicked while hidind behind a bed in a house in Port Erin if memory serves me well.

[Wavey Davey]

40 minutes ago, Boo Gay'n said:

Plus, wasn't it Jonathan Smalley who had one his employees nick a cool million squid or so from the client account?  That guy was nicked while hidind behind a bed in a house in Port Erin if memory serves me well.

You might well find that some of the money nicked came out of the settlement now being disputed. 

[0bserver]

I'm intrigued by this chap saying that there had been attempts on his life... are the sums of money that big?

[Roger Mexico]

4 hours ago, Boo Gay'n said:

Plus, wasn't it Jonathan Smalley who had one his employees nick a cool million squid or so from the client account?  That guy was nicked while hidind behind a bed in a house in Port Erin if memory serves me well.

Nobody ever reads my links do they?:

An accountant from the Isle of Man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing more than £5.5m.

Richard Alan Costain, 64, from Port Erin admitted the theft which happened over ten years while working at solicitors Stuart Smalley & Co LLC.

The money was stolen from clients to support his own failing businesses, Douglas Court House was told.

Deemster Alistair Montgomerie told Costain: "You will never be given a position of trust again".

During sentencing on 11 December, the court heard that Costain, who had been on a salary of about £100,000 a year, transferred the cash to several companies involved in glass manufacturing.

Between 2004 and 2014, he set up hundreds of illegal transactions to move money to the failing firms which he either owned or co-owned.

On sentencing, Deemster Alistair Montgomerie said: "You took this money to prop up your failing businesses and used sophisticated methods to cover your tracks."

It doesn't mention about hiding behind a bed, but hiding behind a bed in your own house doesn't strike me as the height of sophisticated concealment.

It must have been very traumatic for Mr Smalley as he ended up being taken to Court for (literally) obstructing the police.

[quilp]

43 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Nobody ever reads my links do they?

Er, not quite, @Roger Mexico. They're fairly essential reading and relative, mostly. It's an annoying nuance of this forum, and I dare say other forums, that some posters are so eager to make their point, they'll often repeat something already posted hours or even days ago because all they do is go to last post and react to it. It's lazy. It's easy enough to pick up a thread from where you left off, speed-read previous posts as a quick catch-up and go from there. Thus, avoiding repetition.

Just saying... 

Edited July 29, 2022 by quilp

[BriT]

22 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

It must have been very traumatic for Mr Smalley as he ended up being taken to Court for (literally) obstructing the police.

Hardly surprising Smalley is just belligerent. It doesn’t matter whether it’s with the police or anyone else. 

[AOR]

Is there any subjudice aspect to this matter?

[quilp]

I think it's all in the public domain so far, so no. 

[Roger Mexico]

31 minutes ago, quilp said:

Er, not quite,

I wasn't being entirely serious.  But yes, it is annoying.

13 minutes ago, AOR said:

Is there any subjudice aspect to this matter?

Probably only if you're called Skelly.  It's listed as a civil matter and in any case everything discussed so far is publicly available.

[AOR]

 

  

On 7/29/2022 at 8:48 PM, Roger Mexico said:

t's listed as a civil matter and in any case everything discussed so far is publicly available.

And in the Summary and Small Claims Court. 

From the Isle of Man Courts website:

• If your claim is for £10,000 or less (£5,000 or less if the claim is for personal injuries) then you should select the Small Claims Procedure.

• If your claim is for £10,001 or more (£5,001 or more if the claim is for personal injuries), but less than £100,000 then you should select the Summary Procedure

So less than £100,000??? I believed it was a substantially larger sum, and there are possible criminal issues.

 

[Roger Mexico]

32 minutes ago, AOR said:

And in the Summary and Small Claims Court. 

From the Isle of Man Courts website:

• If your claim is for £10,000 or less (£5,000 or less if the claim is for personal injuries) then you should select the Small Claims Procedure.

• If your claim is for £10,001 or more (£5,001 or more if the claim is for personal injuries), but less than £100,000 then you should select the Summary Procedure

So less than £100,000??? I believed it was a substantially larger sum, and there are possible criminal issues.

Actually the full title of the website page is: Civil Summary & Small Claims procedures and Civil Case Management Court.  This was down as case management and the amount would be irrelevant.  Any non-simple civil case would appear here first before being directed to the appropriate court.

[Boo Gay'n]

On 7/29/2022 at 7:53 PM, Roger Mexico said:

Nobody ever reads my links do they?:

Apologies - guilty as charged on that one RM.

[Kipper99]

Bit of basic internet research reveals:

Only one person arrested and interviewed for the Durrant murder.

That person was released, and not charged, and that the Met haven’t been looking for anyone else.

The rumours were it was a family member and that for a while there was a civil injunction preventing that person from entering the Island due to perceived threat.