Fraud case file cited 'illegal' firm, court hears

A COMPUTER file found at the office of an alleged £750 million fraudster referred to working for an “illegal organisation”, a…

A COMPUTER file found at the office of an alleged £750 million fraudster referred to working for an “illegal organisation”, a court heard yesterday.

The document, written by an unknown author, was found on a hard drive at the Mayfair offices of alleged fraudsters Achilleas Kallakis and Alexander Williams, it was said.

Mr Kallakis and Mr Williams are facing charges they conspired to defraud AIB in Britain, which lent them £740 million for 16 property purchases on the back of an allegedly forged guarantee from Hong Kong property firm SHKP. They are also accused of swindling €29 million from HBOS.

A scanned PDF of the handwritten page, dated 2004, was discovered on a file called the Madonna Directory by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), prosecutor Annabel Darlow told jurors.

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The author noted concerns about getting “deeper and deeper” and what would happen if “it all blows up”, jurors heard.

Southwark Crown Court also heard how the writer noted: “P*ssed off when I have to take responsibility for cash when I don’t see any of it. P*ssed off because it’s my name that is used.”

Jurors also heard excerpts from another document in the Madonna File, created in April 2007 and last saved in the name of Alexander Williams.

This spoke of how the author was being paid a salary of between £300,000 and £400,000 – a five-fold increase on the £70,000 the writer had been earning four years previously.

The writer moaned about a “sh*tty job” and of “doing various things to get us out of the sh*t”, it was said.

The author also took issue with an unidentified person who had said “the companies are badly run and that is due to me”, adding: “They are badly run.”

Earlier in the hearing, Lady Harris of High Cross took the stand to give evidence on whether her late husband, Lord Ralph Harris, could have provided a glowing testimonial for Mr Kallakis.

It is alleged that Mr Kallakis faked the reference from Lord Harris, who died in 2006, which said: “Not only is he a close personal friend but also a trusted business associate.”

However Lady Harris said she had never heard of Mr Kallakis until being called to give evidence.

Both Mr Kallakis and Mr Williams deny two counts of conspiracy to defraud, 13 of forgery, five of fraud by false representation, two of money laundering and one of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

The trial continues.