Martin Jacomb

High-class fraud

issue 19 November 2011

You can always find a thief in financial markets. That is where the money is. Most frauds are quite dull affairs, and some are never uncovered. A few, however, are spectacular. The scale of loss, or the glamour of the perpetrator, or the failure of the ‘system’ to spot and prevent the crookery, may contribute to make a good story. One case, almost within living memory, which has all of these elements, was that of Gerard Lee Bevan.

He was born in 1869 into a highly respected City banking family. The Bevans were among the founders of Barclays and continued to be involved in the management of the bank until recently.

However, Gerard Bevan did not make the grade for the bank. Perhaps something about his personality, even then, raised doubts about whether he had the right qualities, although he had been at Eton and Cambridge and acquitted himself successfully. And he had magnetic charm.

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