Submission + - Handwriting, Fax Machines, and Swiss Bank Accounts
On December 6, 1994, Richardson, who had retired from politics eight months earlier, faxed hand-written instructions to the manager of his account, called Streeton Foundation, at Swiss finance company EBC Zurich.
Richardson was a political operator without parallel but a novice to the world of high finance. Did he get the details wrong?
“Ref Streeton Foundation,” Richardson wrote.
“Please pay value 30 December 1994 $A1.0 mill as per separate instructions [from the account at EBC Zurich]. Graham Richardson 6-12-94.”
The handwriting, in documents obtained by Israeli journalist Shraga Elam, is clear. What happened to Richardson’s money next isn’t.
EBC records, revealed by The Australian Financial Review in 2009, show the money was transferred on January 5, 1995, to Dennis Jamil Lattous in Beirut....
... Somewhere during the transmission of Richardson’s other instructions an “f” became an “s”.