This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/sep/26/former-hbos-banker-lynden-scourfield-bribes-david-mills
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Former HBOS banker received string of bribes, court hears | Former HBOS banker received string of bribes, court hears |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A senior former banker at HBOS received a string of bribes over five years – including cash, use of a credit card, luxury holidays and payments for prostitutes – in exchange for agreeing bank loans channelled to ailing business with little or no hope of recovery, a court has heard. | A senior former banker at HBOS received a string of bribes over five years – including cash, use of a credit card, luxury holidays and payments for prostitutes – in exchange for agreeing bank loans channelled to ailing business with little or no hope of recovery, a court has heard. |
| Lynden Scourfield had been in charge of dealing with many businesses across the South of England and Wales that were struggling to repay HBOS loans, deciding whether the bank should waive repayments, offer further funding, or allow the business to go bust. | Lynden Scourfield had been in charge of dealing with many businesses across the South of England and Wales that were struggling to repay HBOS loans, deciding whether the bank should waive repayments, offer further funding, or allow the business to go bust. |
| A jury at Southwark crown court were told on Monday he had been engaged in a corrupt relationship with former banker and venture capitalist David Mills, who had set up a turnaround consultancy business called Quayside Corporate Services. | A jury at Southwark crown court were told on Monday he had been engaged in a corrupt relationship with former banker and venture capitalist David Mills, who had set up a turnaround consultancy business called Quayside Corporate Services. |
| Scourfield insisted that struggling businesses dependent on HBOS funding must hire the services of Quayside before he would advance further loans. He then signed off further high-risk loans that were not in the interests of the bank. | Scourfield insisted that struggling businesses dependent on HBOS funding must hire the services of Quayside before he would advance further loans. He then signed off further high-risk loans that were not in the interests of the bank. |
| “Scourfield advanced huge sums to the businesses, and continued to do so well past the point when it would have been obvious to any honest banker that the bank debt could and would never be repaid,” prosecution counsel Brian O’Neill QC told the court. | |
| This allowed Mills and his associates to demand allegedly excessive fees for consultancy services and, in some instances, provided an opportunity for them to take control of the struggling companies, running them for their own benefit. | This allowed Mills and his associates to demand allegedly excessive fees for consultancy services and, in some instances, provided an opportunity for them to take control of the struggling companies, running them for their own benefit. |
| More than £28m passed from HBOS through the bank accounts of either Mills, his wife or companies under his control, O’Neill said. Not all of that sum stayed with the defendants, he conceded, though Mills and his wife “did benefit enormously”. | |
| Meanwhile, HBOS incurred losses of about £245m on lending managed by Scourfield, the jury heard, all of which ultimately had to be written off. | Meanwhile, HBOS incurred losses of about £245m on lending managed by Scourfield, the jury heard, all of which ultimately had to be written off. |
| “The motivation was greed,” O’Neill told the court. “Police ... uncovered evidence of huge rewards provided by Mills to Scourfield to effect his corruption. | |
| “This took the form of money transfers, cash, expensive gifts, use of an American Express card for personal spending, unauthorised and inappropriately lavish hospitality, luxurious foreign travel and sexual encounters with high class escorts.” | “This took the form of money transfers, cash, expensive gifts, use of an American Express card for personal spending, unauthorised and inappropriately lavish hospitality, luxurious foreign travel and sexual encounters with high class escorts.” |
| The jury were told to ignore the fact that Scourfield was not sitting alongside Mills and five other defendants in the dock. “He is not on trial and you must not speculate about his absence or the reasons for it,” O’Neill explained. | |
| Mills faces charges of conspiracy to corrupt, fraudulent trading and conspiracy to conceal criminal property. His wife and former business associates Michael Bancroft, Tony Cartwright and Jonathan Cohen, together with a second former HBOS banker Mark Dobson, variously face similar charges. | Mills faces charges of conspiracy to corrupt, fraudulent trading and conspiracy to conceal criminal property. His wife and former business associates Michael Bancroft, Tony Cartwright and Jonathan Cohen, together with a second former HBOS banker Mark Dobson, variously face similar charges. |
| Struggling businesses the alleged conspirators were said to have used to conceal their corruption included a textile business called Magenta and a pornographic magazine firm called Remnant. | Struggling businesses the alleged conspirators were said to have used to conceal their corruption included a textile business called Magenta and a pornographic magazine firm called Remnant. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |