Swiss banks probably hold Sinclair millions

Press, 17 August 1983, Page 20

Swiss banks probably hold Sinclair millions

NZPA London The convicted murderer, Alexander Sinclair, once boasted he could never spend the interest on the money his drugs syndicate netted as peddlers of death and misery. Just how much his gang — which stopped at nothing to control drug schemes in Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser degree, Britain — made will probably never be precisely known.

Sinclair, who collapsed and died in a British prison on Saturday aged 38, has taken that secret to his grave.

Estimates up to £25 million (?NZ57.5 million) were scoffed at by Sinclair, also known as Terry Sinclair, Terrance John Clark and several other aliases, as a “newspaper fortune.” He said the site of his money was “so secret that even I am unaware of its whereabouts.”

Interpol, the international Eolice agency, and others elieve it is stashed in Swiss bank accounts. .

Ironically, perhaps the only other person who knew the extent and location of the fortune was Martin Johnstone, Sinclair’s former partner known as “Mr Asia.” Sinclair was sentenced to a minimum 20 years jail in July, 1981, for the murder of Johnstone whose handless and defaced body was found

in a flooded quarry at Chorley, Lancashire, in 1979. Johnstone is believed to be the twelfth person to die or disappear after involvement with the ruthless syndicate.

How the gang began is not entirely clear. It is assumed that Sinclair and Johnstone, who were both small-time criminals in New Zealand, had the idea of pooling resources after separately buying drugs from sailors.

They apparently risked the profits of their earlier crimes on a series of can-nabis-running boat trips from Thailand to Auckland in 1975.

As funds grew Johnstone bought a larger vessel, the 20-metre yacht “Brigadoon.” In 1975, only months after joining forces, these mod-ern-day pirates managed to elude New Zealand police and customs officers to land 400,000 cannabis sticks worth about $4.6 million. This was just the start. In the space of nine months they smuggled 48kg of heroin into Australia. Much of it came from Thailand but the British peer Lord Moynihan, a former drummer in a Sydney nightclub and at that stage a pub and farm owner in Manila, was also a supplier.

In 1977 and 1978 Australian homicide and narcotics detectives began uncovering horrific stories of murder and violence. All had some link with Sinclair and Johnstone.

The skeleton of “Pommy” Harry Lewis, a small-time heroin dealer, was found in a shallow grave, in New South Wales. As Johnstone’s body was to be found later, Lewis was handless. The body of Maria Hesshion was later found in Sydney Harbour with gunshot wounds.

Next were two New Zealanders, Greg Ollard and Julie Theilman, both of whom were working for Sin-

clair at the time of their disappearance. Next to disappear were their replacements, Douglas and Isabel Wilson. They spoke to Brisbane detectives and tape recordings of their story were allegedly sent to Sinclair, who ordered their execution. Their bodies were found near Melbourne in April, 1979.

It was in connection with these Australian murders that Sinclair’s extradition was recommended by the Stewart Royal Commission on drug trafficking.

The British officials said they would consider such a request but it was unusual for a criminal to be extradited before he had served his full term. Sinclair had 18 years of imprisonment left. The Koyai commission report alleged Sinclair became the head of a syndicate which imported heroin worth more than JNZI34 million into Australia in 1978 and 1979.

The report said Sinclair’s connections extended deep into the offices of the Australian Narcotics Bureau. It implicated in his activities, lawyers and the mysterious Nugan Hand Bank, setup allegedly with C.I.A. funds and used to launder Sinclair’s profits. In the last few weeks Sinclair was reported to be ready to “spill the beans” on how laundered drug money was being used to buy automatic weapons for the Provisional I.R.A. Prison officials have denied any connection between Sinclair’s death and these reports.

According to the “Daily Mirror,” Sinclair is believed to have been told to keep his mouth shut. The warning apparently came from hardline I.R.A. members who are prisoners at Parkhurst Prison where Sinclair spent the last two years of his life.

The trial which led to his imprisonment lasted 123 days and cost £2 million (SNZ4.6 million), the most expensive and second longest in British legal history. Among those cleared at the trial was Sinclair’s mistress, Miss Karen Soich, a barrister who fell in love with the drug-runner when she successfully helped defend him in a heroin smuggling case in 1978. Miss Soich gave up her job and began living with Sinclair whose flamboyant life-style ranged from natty clothes, fast cars, and attractive women to big gambling binges in London clubs.

In one night of betting the couple won more than £ 20,000 (?NZ46,000). His love of cars was shared by Johnstone. Both owned Jaguars. Sinclair bought his, for cash, in London and crashed it the next day. Johnstone, a dashing figure who favoured threepiece tailored suits with French silk shirts and flashy jewellery, drove round Britain in a chauffeured Jaguar.

Sinclair, who never really trusted any of his associates, encouraged Johnstone to attract women. They would be tempted to join the gang as couriers. Sinclair once said of Johnstone: “He wanted to live like Howard Hughes and blew his money away.” One of his extravagances was a ticket on the inaugural Concorde flight from Singapore to London.

Johnstone’s fatal mistake was to pay £1.5 million ($NZ3.45 million) in Thailand for bags of flour and sugar instead of drugs. He claimed he had been duped but Sinclair would not tolerate such laxness.

Business is business and Johnstone had become a liability, and a fatality.