If I had not already been a socialist, the astonishing events at the Daily Mirror in the last few days would have quickly made me one. They are calling the Maxwell Robbery the greatest financial scandal of all time.
He robbed some £300 million from the workers at the The Mirror, either from their company or from their pension fund.
All around there is a great tut-tutting. Newspapers which only weeks ago were describing Maxwell as a ‘swashbuckling buccaneer’ now fall over one another to denounce him for what he was – a revolting crook. Nowhere is the embarrassment greater than in the City.
In 1971 a distinguished lawyer and a distinguished accountant declared after a careful examination of Maxwell’s relations with a company called Leasco that Maxwell was not fit to chair a public company.
In the early 1980s Maxwell became chairman of one of the biggest public companies in the country, the British Printing Corporation.
In July 1984, on what we on the Mirror called Black Friday, he became chairman of the Mirror Group of Newspapers – which ran five national newspapers with a combined circulation of four million copies every weekday and six million every Sunday. How could this happen? Paul Foot, article December 1991, ‘They All Knew He Was a Crook’
I steal. Sam Giancana
If you’re going to steal at all, steal in a way that will be admired. Death of a Scoundrel 1956 starring George Sanders & Yvonne de Carlo & Zsa Zsa Gabor & Victor Jory & Nancy Gates & Coleen Gray & Tom Conway & Werner Kemperer et al, director Charles Martin
They’re thieves, just like us. They Live By Night 1949 starring Farley Granger & Cathy O’Donnell & Howard Da Silver & Jay C Flippen & Will Wright & William Phipps & Ian Wolfe & Harry Harvey & Marie Bryant & Will Lee et al, director Nicholas Ray, gangsta of old man and daughter
You’re a thief just like me. ibid. him to Mattie
War makes thieves and peace hangs them. George Herbert
Every thirty seconds somewhere in America thieves break into a car. Joy-riders steal for cheap rides. Professionals steal to order for organised crime groups to smuggle overseas. Now thieves take larger vehicles for Mexican drug gangs. Drugs Inc s1e8 aka Underworld Inc s2e8: Grand Theft Auto, National Geographic 2012
Vehicle theft continues to plague America. Every year thieves steal one million cars. ibid.
Chop-Shops are the driving force behind most of the car crime in America. ibid.
The Eastern Connection: Lithuania. ibid.
Grand Theft Auto in America will continue to attract organised crime and opportunist thieves alike. ibid.
Clothes, designer goods, guns, cell phones, thieves steal over thirty billion dollars’ worth of goods from the American economy every year. Underworld Inc s2e7: The Black Market, National Geographic 2015
’Tis bad enough in man or woman
To steal a goose from off a common;
But surely he’s without excuse
Who steals a common from the goose. Anonymous, cited Carey’s Commonplace Book of Epigrams 1872
Opportunity makes a thief. Early 13th century proverb
Set a thief to catch a thief. Mid-17th century proverb
There is honour among thieves. Early 19th century proverb
Hunger makes a thief of any man. Pearl S Buck
That paper deals with the instincts of predators. What you might call the criminal class of the animal world. Lady animals figure very largely as predators. Marnie 1964 starring Tippi Hedren & Sean Connery & Diane Baker & Martin Gabel & Louise Latham & Mariette Hartley & Bruce Dern & Alan Napier & Bob Sweeney & Meg Wyllie & Kimberley Beck et al, director Alfred Hitchcock, him to her
I didn’t want to get married. It’s degrading. It’s animal. ibid. her to him
Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it. G K Chesterton
In Britain today there is a battle taking place. A shoplifter strikes every twelve seconds. They pocket an incredible £6,000,000 of goods every day ... Who is winning this game of cat and mouse? Shops and Robbers: Britain's War on Shoplifters Channel 5 2014
So is shoplifting really a national disease? ibid.
‘I shoplift because I can’t afford it, plus I like to get things for free. I think free stuff is the best. You enjoy it more innit.’ ibid. Carla, West London
They’ve got another trick up their sleeves: distraction. ibid.
In North London this gang descend on mass. Wasting no time helping themselves to whatever they life. Stunned, the staff respond bravely. But ultimately the staff were helpless and the gang fought back. ibid.
Every forty seconds a car is stolen in America. 80% disappear without a trace. American Underworld: Grand Theft Auto/Identity Theft, Discovery 2012
You see cars; this guy sees money. ibid.
The average American has three credit cards … The identity thief shows us the tricks of his trade. ibid.
This is the underworld robbing the underworld. ibid.
All, all is theft, all is unceasing and rigorous competition in nature; the desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost – the most legitimate – passion nature has bred into us and, without doubt, the most agreeable one. Marquis de Sade
Identity theft is a serious crime that affects millions of Americans each year. Ben Bernanke
A thief believes everybody steals. Edgar Watson Howe
I’m going to go back to the sixties and steal Austin Power’s Mojo. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 1999 starring Will Ferrell & Mike Myers & Heather Graham & Michael York & Robert Wagner & Rob Lowe & Mindy Sterling & Seth Green & Verne Troyer & Elizabeth Hurley & Gia Carides & Oliver Muirhead et al, director Jay Roach, Dr Evil to board
Thus did I fall victim to Europe’s fastest-growing industry – car theft. Every month thousands of cars would be stolen from the streets of northern Europe in preparation for their illegal export to Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Misha Glenny, McMafia
The process of enrichment was quite simply the grandest larceny in history and stands no historical comparison ... the biggest single flight of capital the world has ever seen. ibid.
Every year countless Europeans and Americans are fleeced of thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars each. They all believe that they are going to make millions of dollars by hiding and transiting money … Once hooked, the mugu is asked for ever greater sums. ibid.
The very man whose job it was to protect the sacred burial grounds was giving the thieves the green light. Scandals of Ancient Egypt, Discovery History 2016
Is it true, or just a rumour – that John Robie, former cat burglar of Paris before the war is once again on the prowl? Fashionable resorts on the Riviera are being regularly looted by a skilful jewel thief. To Catch a Thief 1955 starring Cary Grant & Grace Kelly & Jessie Royce Landis & John Williams & Charles Vanel & Brigitte Auber & Jean Martinelli & Georgette Anys et al, director Alfred Hitchcock, newspaper article
I stole once. I went to jail … I’ve never stolen since. ibid. him to her
Grant: Insurance, that’s gambling isn’t it?
Lloyds of London bloke: Well shall we say betting? ibid.
How do you like the place? ibid.
I only stole from people who wouldn’t go hungry. ibid.
Oh lovely day. Have you ever seen any place in the world more beautiful? Just look at the colours of the sea down there and the sky, those little pink and green buildings down the hill. ibid.
Do you want a leg or a breast? ibid.
Arsenal had done the unthinkable: in the final seconds of the final minute of the final match of the season they had gone to Anfield and had stolen the championship from under Liverpool’s noses. ESPN Hall of Fame
Distraction thieves on Oxford Street – police track them down. Oxford Street Revealed s2e3, BBC 2014
In all ages hypocrites, called priests, have put crowns on the heads of thieves, called kings. Robert G Ingersoll
The French Connection heroin robbery remains the single largest theft in American history and it was done by the police themselves. America’s War on Drugs, History 2017