The Cook Report - Laundry Man / John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer S09E05 (1994)

The time share scandal was well-known in the seventies and eighties. Less well known was the man behind the worst of it, John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer. He acquired his nickname after laundering much of the gold from the £26 million Brinks Matt robbery in 1983 and put some of his ill-gotten gains to work in Tenerife, where he became the island’s biggest landowner. He also owned a private jet, a helicopter, a French chateau, a collection of classic cars and a £6 million superyacht. By dint of fraud, violence, arson attacks and the general intimidation of his 17,000 timeshare clients combined with the corruption of officialdom, he amassed a fortune of £300 million, then on a par with the Queen, according to the Sunday Times Rich list. Over the years, he doubled that fortune by laundering money for Columbian drug barons and East European Mafiosi. Two of his former employees who
went into competition with him were tortured to death. No arrests were ever made, but then Palmer used to boast that he had the island’s police and judiciary ‘in his back pocket.’
Working with the Metropolitan Police, the Cook Report exposed the latter in a sophisticated
undercover sting operation, during which Palmer offered to launder the proceeds of two Burmese heroin harvests every year. ‘I’m not the cheapest, but I’m the best’, he boasted and said his cut for organising the deal through his labyrinthine network of off-shore companies would be a cool 25 percent of the proceeds. A subsequent Cook confrontation of Palmer was set up at the Ritz Hotel in London - where the Brinks Matt robbery had apparently been planned. (nice touch!) This event gave investigating officers the opportunity to seize Palmer’s time-share records and have him gaoled for eight years. For that, he blamed Roger Cook and took out a contract on his life.
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[@rogercookreports]

Please help my blind friend Andrew George's journey to independence and freedom by donating to buy him a guide dog. Thanks in advance. www.gofundme.com/f/get-george-a-dog

[@mike-xt7qi]

Thanks for these uploads. Lovely to see some professional journalism from a different era.

[@dean7652]

I was only a kid but what a show and what a pair on Roger Cook, balls of steel😂

[@jojjeoskarsson784]

He does with such stile and no fear at all

[@user-dp6cw9po5k]

Roger Cook, A man with a Heart of a Lion & the voice of a Warrior Guardian that says " Don't Worry, I'll Protect You".

[@user-dp6cw9po5k]

WOW! You Did it! Thanks for uploading THAT Cook Report on KZbin Today! Hard to Believe it's Now 30 Years since Roger Cook crossed Swords With John "Goldfinger" Palmer!

[@deathbag]

Thanks for uploading!

[@jjperera3389]

Great documentary, bit of a joke having the commissioner of the city of London commenting..the city of London is huge tax haven of dirty money

[@TrevLFC]

I’m in a Roger Cook wormhole after one episode. See you in 11 months.

[@robertbrighton9797]

Legendary sting

[@jonathanturbide2232]

AMAZING channel, thank you so much for sharing all these investigations here on KZbin. 👍🏻✌🏻

[@leonwilks4114]

Nothing screams 90s than to thump someone

[@Sweet.G]

Watch the 70s star trek they do it nearly every episode lol

[@mistofoles]

What's so special about a guy who works at the dry-cleaners ?

[@davefool6815]

Well you can say life got him back in the end. But he had a luxury lifestyle and although a prison sentence the money and lifestyle made up for it. He died quickly and unexpectedly so in all honesty he got away with it. Probably expected it at some point.

[@brightspark4817]

it wasnt smelted down it was re melted. smelting is removing the metal from ore

[@Crosshatch1212]

Old jewellery n silver ,lol 2 p anyone 😂

[@dootwoot]

They removed the metal from the stuff. It was smelted down

[@mistofoles]

@21:05 - This guy looks like a Dom Joly character !

[@milo04]

Is this the guy that got assassinated through his garden fence ?

[@acdc690]

Shot dead in his garden must have pissed someone of

[@seanboi8734]

There was a list of suspects

[@swisscottage1070]

There are two 'f's in off

[@acdc690]

@swisscottage1070 One must have fallen off

[@petetube13]

There's a full stop at the end of a sentence.​@@swisscottage1070

[@DaveSCameron]

John certainly paid for his greed.

[@JeffsWig]

Do you come here often 😅 alright mate. Jeff's wig here. KZbin have changed my name in the comments section to my old one

[@DaveSCameron]

@@JeffsWig Hey!! 🤣 Gtsyh mate, only the finest people visit the finest places eh! You show as J Jones and have a brilliant bank holiday weekend mate. 👍 ☘️

[@gahctep]

Karma got him in the end, John was a sociopath, who ripped of his criminal associates , the women who loved him, countless ordinary people, who had dreams and plans for what they hoped was a sun kissed future, He was a man who seemed really, to care more for himself, But i cant help but have a sneaking admiration, for someone, who was basically illiterate , who went from having to have shoes supplied from a local authority, to having his own jet a helicopter boar countless properties, and was a billioaire. How a major movie, about him hasnt been made ive no idea.

[@gerardfreek2044]

Does anybody know about his German mistress he had?

[@guy4469]

I worked tenerife £20 for everyone i got to see a timeshare 8 a day was good for me .

[@benchippy8039]

Can’t have a working class fella making dirty money

[@user-ee8ux5hg8e]

Palmer was mi5

[@markpirie1986]

Watch the fictional B rated movie codename wild geese 1984, 😊 And if I was Palmers close by, I'd have a safe house out here in both TRNC and RoCypus/ Akotiri.

[@mcfcguvnors]

was it this that got him killed ?

[@aliorr9356]

Pissing people off