The London Syndicate

The job of a Consul living in a small community is made especially difficult when a well known resident turns out to be a criminal.

'Me and me Sofa' - for so David referred to his wife - became regulars at the Gymkhana Club as soon as they arrived in Chiang Mai. David was a north-country Englishman in his early sixties, always well dressed, usually wearing a blazer and white shirt with a tie. He played a good round of golf and told many cricket stories - he was on christian name terms with, amongst others, Freddie Truman with whom he had often played. He helped to prepare the club cricket pitch and during the Sixes Competition umpired nearly every match. He was a popular and useful member of the expatriate community.

Early on he quietly told a few people of his connections in the UK racing world and hinted that he had inside knowledge in various racing stables. If others would like to invest with him in purchasing shares in a racehorse he could guarantee them an immediate return of at least 6% a month, one share would cost 250,000 baht. The first few who invested did very well and told their friends about it. The syndicate grew and he even advertised in the Chiang Mai Newsletter. At the April cricket Sixes in the following year more people joined the scheme. There were, however, some who remembered Mae Che Moi's pyramid oil shares scam of a few years ago and said beware.

On August 3rd David London was arrested at the request of Interpol. The British police wanted him extradited to face charges of rape, child abuse, blackmail and embezzlement. When the Chiang Mai syndicate members heard about this it began to dawn on them that there was something terribly wrong with their own investment - twenty million baht could not be accounted for. They immediately pressed charges against London to halt the extradition.

For the next year I was caught up in the London saga.

At the Gymkhana Club I was assailed by the unfortunate victims who wanted to know what I and the Embassy were doing to help them recover their lost investment, for it soon became clear that there were no racehorses, there was no insider information and no bets had ever been placed. It was a classic pyramid scheme, dividends had been paid to the early investors from the shares of those who joined later - their money was lost for ever.

At home poor Sopa often came to see me in tears - partly for her husband's sake but mainly for her own since she now learned that he had a wife in England . At one stage she raised just over a million baht by pawning her family's land as a bail bond. For one night David was released from prison and held in a police station. Next day he went back to prison because no one facing extradition can be granted bail. Sopa never recovered her million baht.

At the prison I saw David at least once a week - usually I took him food of one sort or another. His mood fluctuated wildly, on some days he appeared quiet and resigned, on others he was angry with the fury of a cornered rat. Never once did he admit his guilt. He refused to discuss anything with the investors. He stubbornly refused to go to court if he had to be shackled. His health was poor, he had asthma and a lung infection. For weeks on end he busied himself writing a novel of his life - I do not know what became of it. Towards the end he convinced himself that he had five hundred thousand pounds in a safe deposit box in his bank in Truro . Only he could take the money out.

When he died his wife, the missionaries, one Brit, myself and, most impressively, three prison warders attended his funeral. At his request his ashes were scattered in front of the Happy Valley golf course.