Nick Leesons official website now carries the full story of how he brought down Barings Bank in 1995 as part of one of the highest-profile fraud cases in British history. And it emerges that the cover-up began not with his mistake, but with somebody elses. Hidden among the financial institutions accounts most of which it was not directly liable for was error account 88888, set up to hide a 20, 000 debt from an inexperienced employees poor investment decisions. But when Leeson began to make losses of his own, he turned to account number 88888 to hide them too.
As the end of 1994 approached, he had racked up more than half a billion dollars worth of debt which was worsened in January 1995 after an earthquake knocked seven per cent off the value of the Japanese stock exchange. In all, $1.3 billion was lost by Leesons dodgy dealing, driving the bank irreparably into the red. Still, the situation could have been avoided if Leeson had not been given sole responsibility for two different roles, he asserts. In a fatal mistake, the bank allowed Leeson to remain chief trader while being responsible for settling his trades, a job that is usually split, his website explains.
One for all and all for fraud the NatWest Three The NatWest Three are a trio of British businessmen implicated in the 2001 bankruptcy scandal of American energy firm Enron. In a court ruling from the US district court of southern Texas, the three are accused of conspiring to keep money for themselves that should rightfully have gone to the company. Enron had a Cayman Islands partnership, LJM Cayman, overseen by the energy operators chief financial officer which in turn created a subsidiary known as Swap Sub in June 1999. David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew were three London-based bankers responsible for representing NatWest in dealings with Swap Sub.
But in the summer of they recommended that NatWest sold its stake in Swap Sub for $1 million which the US court noted is far less than it was worth and keep the surplus for themselves. The whole deal hinged on the fact that the stake would be sold to a company owned by Enrons managing director for global finance Michael Kopper.By skimming off a portion of the profits for themselves, the trio were deemed to have broken their promise to act honestly and in the best interests of NatWest
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