Emil Savundra
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Michael Marion Emil Anacletus Pierre Savundranayagam (6 July 1923 – 21 December 1976[1]), usually known as Emil Savundra, was a Sri Lankan swindler. The collapse of his Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company left about 400,000 motorists in the United Kingdom without coverage.
As a post-war black marketeer, Savundra committed bribery and fraud on an international scale before settling in the UK to sell low-cost insurance in the fast-growing automotive market. By defaulting on mandatory securities, he funded a lavish lifestyle and travelled in fashionable circles. This attracted the attention of the press, who uncovered evidence of major fraud. In a TV interview with David Frost, Savundra demonstrated contempt for his defrauded customers (some of whom were in the studio audience) and denied any moral responsibility. The police had been investigating him, and he was soon arrested and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. Released after six, Savundra died two years later as a drug addict.
Early life and career
Born into a Tamil family of lawyers in
When Ceylon became independent in 1948, Savundra (age 24) tried to develop a business career on the island. Around this time he developed
In 1954, at age 31, Savundra was convicted of swindling the
His only criminal offence in Ceylon was the failure to pay an Inland Revenue bill based on earnings from some of his economic frauds. Savundra was absent from the island between 1951 and 1965, when he returned at age 42.
Fire, Auto and Marine
By the early 1960s Savundra had settled in the United Kingdom, where he perpetrated the fraud for which he would be convicted in 1968. In 1963 he formed the Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company (FAM), which took advantage of the thriving motor-insurance industry when car ownership in the UK was increasing and road networks were being developed. FAM offered low insurance rates, with crude, but revolutionary at the time, computerisation in a collaboration with IBM.
Savundra had a lavish, high-profile lifestyle before FAM collapsed due to cash-flow problems and exposure by
Because the scandal centred around the Minister of War, female escorts, the Russian defence attache, a well-known actress, a senior member of the House of Lords and many society figures, Savundra did not receive much attention. However, Keeler and Rice-Davies published autobiographies mentioning Savundra; this may have been when ]
Savundra was one of the first controversial businessmen to use UK
A Sunday Times team investigating Savundra's affairs reported that his "reserves" in stock worth nearly a million pounds were forgeries. According to his defenders (who overlooked his track record in fraudulent trading), he insured high-risk clients and did not realise that he should allocate more resources to cover claims. Although Savundra reportedly transferred FAM assets to a bank in Liechtenstein, no such funds were found.
In May 1966, after a heart attack, the 42-year-old Savundra sold his FAM shares to his FAM directors. Led by Stuart de Quincy Walker, the company quickly collapsed and left an estimated 400,000 motorists uninsured. Savundra was pursued by the media, who besieged his mansion in Hampstead for days.
He fled to his native Ceylon, where he was sheltered by relatives, and the Ceylonese government refused to confirm that they would deny a British request for extradition. In December, Savundra returned to Europe; he was in Rome for a month, still pursued by the British press. In January 1967, he re-entered the United Kingdom; at age 44, he was dependent on pethidine for back pain.
Frost Programme controversy
The fraudulent nature of Savundra's business affairs was again made public in 1967 as the result of a television interview by
Frost (who had expected that Savundra would express remorse to his victims) confronted him about his conduct, and the programme ended with shouts from the audience of "Well done, Frostie!" The interview was quickly dubbed "trial by television", and caused concern by Rediffusion management that Savundra's right to a fair trial had been compromised. The programme enhanced Frost's reputation in the UK as a vigorous interviewer.[4]
Imprisonment and death
Savundra was arrested shortly after his appearance on The Frost Programme after a two-year police investigation. In March 1968, he was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment with a £50,000 fine or an additional two years' imprisonment. Savundra was eventually placed in the prison hospital, where he became addicted to drugs to control persistent pain. Whilst he was in prison, it was discovered that he had used his wealth to go to clinics around the world; the clinic records were collected and collated. Savundra was released from prison shortly before Christmas in 1974, still addicted to drugs. He died in Old Windsor, near Windsor, Berkshire, on 21 December 1976 at age 53. Survived by his widow, Savundra was registered as a "retired banker" and was a Roman Catholic.[5]
In popular culture
In "
Sources
- Connell, Jon; ISBN 0-340-22601-3.
- Emil Savundra Wormwood Scrub Diaries (2008)[citation needed]
- ISBN 0-297-78053-0.
- ISBN 0-550-16060-4.
- ISBN 0722128487.
- ISBN 0-224-02347-0.
- ISBN 0-575-04194-3.
References
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58162. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Arts". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-107815;jsessionid=D66D1AB262034A9CB0495738AE1D20BF
- ^ Fraud, Connell and Sutherland