The 1990s recession was sparked by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in the summer of 1990, and with it came international financial uncertainty.
Sir Charles Ronald George Nall-Cain, Third Baron Brocket, AKA Lord Brocket of Brocket Hall found himself in pecuniary difficulties to the tune of £4.5 million.
Lord B had a collection of 42 rare cars, including an ex-Niki Lauda Formula 1 racer and a Fangio-Moss Maserati.
All paid for with significant bank loans.
He reported that four valuable cars, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB, and a 1968 Ferrari 365 GTC, had been stolen.
He was looking to his insurance company, General Accident, to make good the loss.
They refused; Lord Brocket took them to court. However, the he withdrew the claim when his bank stepped in with a £15m rescue package.
All seemed to have ended happily ever after, that was that until his by-now estranged wife, Lady Isabell (Isa) Lorenzo, spilt the beans to the police in late 1994.
The police were still idetermined to sue the good Lord.
Their investigations unveiled a master plan.
Instead of crushing the cars and ridding himself of the evidence, he dismantled them with a view to ‘miraculously’ finding them if the insurance didn’t cough up.
He was duly sentenced to seven years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.
For good measure, he also sold Jon Shirley of Microsoft a fake 250 GT SWB Berlinetta with the number of a missing SWB Berlinetta.
