John Palmer (criminal)

John Palmer (born c.1950) is a British criminal who has been 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 had melted down gold bars from the robbery in his garden but had 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 has continued to plead his innocence in the 1987 trial, 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]

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]

References