by Neil Wild
"Well, when I joined it, the National was just another small provincial building society. It's head was Ken Good; he was in his sixties then. He was an old fashioned building society man, and made the National into a good, solid organisation; one where your money was safe; no chances taken, no speculation, nothing like that. However Ken was looking towards his retirement and brought in Clive Masters who was young and pushy. I didn't really take to him. He was too slick; too smooth for a building society man. I think that Masters always saw the National as the way to make money for himself: and the only way he could do that was to turn it into a bank, with himself as Chief Executive.
He couldn't do it immediately of course, because Ken was in his way, but he persuaded Ken to amalgamate with other smaller building societies, which Ken was quite happy to do, and so the Society grew and grew."
"So how did this affect you?"
"Well as we were a small society when I joined, a lot of our mortgage valuation work was farmed out to private firms of surveyors. I and the other surveyors did one or two surveys to keep our hand in so to speak, and to provide enough income to make our department pay for itself, but the job gradually became a desk job; checking and vetting the independent valuations. As the Society grew, then the volume of loans became so great that Masters wanted us to take on our own surveyors because he could see that the survey fees that the borrowers paid would supplement the income of the Society. We're talking of some quite serious money here."
"And so National Surveyors was formed."
"That's right, and eventually as the National grew even bigger, and then became a bank, we had branches everywhere. As one of the "old boys" so to speak, I just moved up the ranks until, as you know, I became head of the Greater London section."
"A plum job?"
"A plum job. We were not only on basic salary, but on commission. "
"Really. How?"
"Oh, yes, this was all part of Masters strategy. He sees everything in terms of profit and bonuses. We were not only there to service the Society; we were encouraged to take on outside work also. He wanted Surveyors run as an independent profit making business."
"Although wholly owned by the Society?'·
"Quite so."
"When did you leave Birmingham?"
"As I say I was very much a desk man, and so I remained in Birmingham while we recruited surveyors in the Greater London area. While on our staff, they functioned as the independent surveyors had; they worked from home. We sent them valuation instructions; they sent in their reports and I checked them. Occasionally I would spend days in the area with them, and would do the occasional survey myself – to keep my hand in as I said."
"How long did this situation last – you being on Birmingham. "
"A year or two, and then we grew big enough to open a dedicated office, in London, and I had to go down there."
"Were you living in Malvern by this time?"
"Yes, my wife has a job at the Royal Radar Establishment, and it was just as easy for me to catch the train to London from Malvern Link station as it was to catch the same train farther down the line at Worcester."
"But you decided not to move to London?"
Newberry who had relaxed considerably in the course of the conversation tensed up again.
He gestured back to the kitchen window. "As you said, no views in London.” He sounded unconvincing. Brakespeare again decided it was better not to purse the point..
"Right, so what did you do in London. "
"The same as I did in Birmingham, only more "hands on" because Masters, as I have said, wanted us to develop as an independent company, and to bring work in. In fact many of the surveyors we took on had been independent surveyors with their own practices which had been working for the National, and they brought with them their portfolio of clients. "
"OK that's very useful background", said Brakespeare, sitting back in his chair.
"Can I move on to where we are today. What about Clearfield?"
"What about Clearfield?" Newberry gazed steadily at him. This was not the defensive reaction that Brakespeare had been expecting. To avoid confrontation, he looked out of the window, and said," Well, I'm sure you know that all the properties which are the subject of the charges against you, were all owned at some stage by Clearfield Limited. "
"Yes"
"And that Clearfield was operated and possibly owned by Jonathan Levy"
"Yes."
"And you knew Levy"
"Yes."
"He was a friend of yours".
"No".
Shakespeare paused. Was Newberry some kind of prick? He was supposed to have had some financial interest in Clearfield; he had supposedly been on trips paid for by Levy; the whole case turned on valuations of Clearfield property and the man was clearly stonewalling. He probably was as guilty as hell. Might as well tell him so and get it over with.
"Mr. Newberry, David. To put it bluntly, stop pissing me about."
Newberry showed visible signs of surprise. Brakespeare continued quickly.
"I've never met you before; all I know about you is what I've read and that, to make an understatement it is not good. I'm not the Police. I'm being paid to help you, and anything you tell me is in strictest confidence, but if you won't come clean and tell me all that I need to know in order to help you, then I'm afraid that there is nothing neither I nor any other person can do to help you. I'm afraid it's as simple as that".
There was a pause and Newberry looked at his fingers. He put the palms of his hands were together, fingers interlocked, as if in a form of prayer, and brought them to his lips.
"Anything I tell you is in the strictest confidence?"
"Yes, but you must understand that you cannot tell me one thing, and ask me to do another. Many people ask lawyers, 'how can you defend that person when you know they are lying?' The answers is that a lawyer cannot. Whatever you tell me I will accept as being the truth. However, you cannot tell me that something is true, and then expect me to act as if it were not. "
"You mean I couldn't tell you that I fiddled the surveys and then expect you to defend me?"
"Did you?"
"I didn't. So you have no problem.”.
Brakespeare smiled with relief. “As the Americans say, can we cut to the chase? What was your involvement with Clearfield? With Levy."
Newberry suddenly had a smile on his face too.
“If you want the truth, here it is. Did you know that Levy was once a client of Bill Mortimer's?"
"What?"
"No I didn't think that Bill would tell you. Well Bill is a bit of a wheeler dealer. I suspect that he has earned more money outside the law than inside it. He used to run round in a Rolls Royce until it became a liability. Too many people wanting to run a key down the side of the paintwork. I don't know for how long or from when, but Bill and Jonathan go back some way. Bill and I also go back a long way to when I worked for the County Council, and he worked in the legal department. In fact he trained as a solicitor there. Anyway to cut to the chase as you said, Clearfield was originally one of Bill's ideas. He bought it as an off the shelf company. He thought that Jonathan was smart enough to be successful. Jonathan was or had been an Estate Agent in London, but like all estate agents, wanted to be the organ grinder and not the monkey, and to go into property development himself. Bill formed the company for Jonathan. He thought that I could help Jonathan with pricings etc. and so he got me involved."
"But had you any previous professional involvement with Levy beforehand; did the National lend any money to him?"
"Beforehand, no."
"But later?"
"Certainly. "
"But what was your interest in Clearfield. You are supposed to have 10% of the shares."
"At first, I did."
"How much did you put in."
"In all, Ten thousand."
"Was it your own money?"
"Not all. I could only afford to put small amounts in, and so I borrowed it th
rough the mortgage on this place. "
"Then your wife must have known. "
"She did"
"What did she say."
"Nothing. She never interferes with my work. "
"And where did the rest of the investment money come from."
Brakespeare guessed the answer almost at the same time as he asked the question.
"Bill lent it to Jonathan. "
"So Mortimer is involved in all this?"
"Yes, he was, but is no longer. "
"And are you still involved?"
"No, I got out at an early stage."
"Why is that?"
"Well as I said, the National started lending money to Clearfield. Obviously I wasn’t too happy. I had clearly a potential conflict of interest."
"But the National was supposed to be a building society. Building societies are there to lend money to people to buy their own homes with. Is it correct that it was Masters who wanted to move into commercial lending?"
"Yes, he was convinced that it was one of the ways forward. As a Building Society is effectively owned by it's borrowers, and in competition with heaven knows how many mortgage lenders, the Society could only charge relatively low interest rates. If it went into commercial property lending it could charge a hell of a lot more, and make more profit."
"To look good when Masters converted it into a bank. "
"Yes, it was all part of the Great Plan." said Newberry sarcastically.
"OK, so you had shares in the company, but they weren't in your name. Why not."
"Well although I couldn't see anything wrong, it seemed a bit silly to have my name exposed just in case someone put two and two together and came up with five."
"And so you had the shares put in someone else's name as a nominee?"
"Yes, Jonathan's accountant agreed to do it, on Bill's advice. "
"And what about Mortimer's shares; was he on the list of shareholders?"
"I’m not sure. I think that he just lent the money to Jonathan."
"At a high rate of interest?"
"I don't know the details; it was linked to the profits or something. "
"Why wasn't Mortimer directly involved?"
Newberry shrugged. "He's always too careful. Values his status as a solicitor I suppose. You'll never see his name in the limelight - unless he succeeds." He laughed. "Dear old Bill, I suppose you could say that he got me into all this."
"Then what happened to your shares. "
"Well, Clearfield was really very successful. What Jonathan did was to find run down properties in London - you know large old Victorian properties, ripe for conversion into flats, and buy them"
"With National Mortgages?"
"He then borrowed the money to carry out the work on the strength of the mortgage from his bank. The National got a nice rate of interest, and when the flats, which usually sold like hotcake, went, the mortgage was paid off and everyone was happy. "
“Until the property market slowed down.”
“That’s right, but then Levy let the flats out to Local Authorities and the rent paid the mortgage interest.”
“But then it didn’t.”
“That’s when the trouble started. There were too many unsold flats. The National decided to repossess them.”
"So how did this affect your shares?"
"Well, during the boom times, I suppose that I always felt a little guilty about them. I thought that with the volume of business we were doing with Jonathan, and because I now had the valuations passing under my nose, I had better get out, and so I was paid off."
"The prosecution papers talk about a settlement, was that it?
"Yes."
"So you left the company when?"
"Well I left it as soon as I joined, almost. As I said, it took off very quickly."
"But you had shares?"
"No, as I said they were in Jonathan's accountants name."
"But they were "your" shares."
"Well I suppose so."
"So at the least you had a financial connection with the company until you were paid out?"
"Yes"
"How much did you get back?"
"A hundred thousand- and I declared it for tax! I tell you I've done nothing wrong or underhand. It paid off the mortgage on this."
"But is it correct that you did actual valuations for Clearfield, at the time when you had a financial stake in the Company?"
"Yes, I had to when we had staff away or suchlike, but there was nothing wrong with my valuations; everything just stacked up beautifully. All the properties I valued at that time were completed and sold. No-one lost. "
"You still remained on good terms with Levy, after you ceased to hold any interest in the Company?"
"Yes, he continued to be a valuable customer. Masters thought it was wonderful that we should have such a successful client. "
"According to the prosecution you had 3 holidays at his expense.
Newberry stood up suddenly.
"Do we have to go through all this shit?"
"Yes," said Brakespeare firmly.
"How about a walk?"
“What? "
"Sitting here and fielding all these questions is stressing me. I have a problem with my ticker- we'll talk about that later. Let's walk and talk; it will help.
"OK, if you wish" said Brakespeare, by nature a couch potato, “where are we going?"
“Oh just up the Hill. Don't worry, we'll not walk all the way. I don't get around much any more, as you know." He smiled wryly. "You drive. "
chapter eight
At Newberry's direction, Brakespeare drove into the centre of Malvern, where they managed to find a parking space near the shops in Worcester Road.
Newberry then led Brakespeare to the beginning of a path up the face of the hills.
"We'll walk slowly and talk slowly," said Newberry, "if only for the sake of my health."
"What’ s the problem; something to do with your heart, isn't it. "
"I'm a freak of nature. It's called 'dilated cardiomyopathy'. Ever heard of it?"
“The 'cardio' bit, yes; the rest no. You'd better explain." said Brakespeare.
"Well at about the time we moved to London, I kept feeling short of breath. The quack said that it was nothing but mild asthma, and apart from prescribing an inhaler, which was too embarrassing to use, and which never seemed to have any effect when I tried anyway, he said he could do nothing for me . However it seemed to get worst and so he decided that it might be something to do with my heart. He sent me to the W.R.I . "
“What?"
“Sorry the Worcester Royal Infirmary; to the Cardiology Department. They decided after doing all sorts of unpleasant tests, that I had severe weakening of my heart muscles. "
"Had you had a heart attack?"
"No. I had no obvious heart disease, high blood pressure or anything like that. They decided that at some stage I must have possibly been attacked by a virus, but they don't really know. So what I have is an enlarged heart and weakened muscles."
"Well you seem to be getting up this hill all right", said a gasping Brakespeare. Newberry seemed even fitter than he.
Newberry stopped in his stride. "Medication. But it won't cure it; can't cure it."
"So what's the prognosis?"
"Don't know. According to statistics, 50% of people, (and there aren't many of us) die within a year; others live for longer. I will never make old bones, but I can tell you one thing .. "
He stretched out his right hand and put it on Brakespeare's left shoulder.
" .... .if I have to go the Court with this bag of shit that the police have prepared, then the stress could kill me. You need to get a medical report on me. The doctors will say that high levels of stress can lead to heart rhythm irregularities, including sudden death, so unless you want to have a client popping his clogs in a most dramatic manner, you've got to stop this case in it's tracks. Comprende?
"Comprendo." replied Brakespeare through a
surge of panic. What had he done to deserve a case like this? First the involvement of Mortimer; no wonder he was being so interested in the case. Now this emotional pressure.
"Come on." Newberry started off up the hill again.
"Look," said Brakespeare, "I really am sorry about all this, but at this stage I can't see the prosecution dropping the case because of a medical certificate, unless the doctors can literally guarantee your death. Will they do that?"
"Doctors are like bloody lawyers. They will guarantee nothing."
"Well then, we're going have to carry on where we left off - I need to know everything. If I know everything, especially our weak points, I can look for the weak points in the prosecution case. "
"I know, I understand," said
"So tell me about the holidays."
"Look, let's go back to Masters and the National. As I told you, he wanted to get into commercial lending, and when you’re involved in commercial business, you have to go out and get it, and that means socialising; drinks, "jollys" to events such as Wimbledon and Twickenham, and so on. It doesn't mean that there's any hanky panky going on; it's just oiling the wheels of commerce."
"But holidays?"
"Why not. They're only a long day trip. Many companies take their employees away as a reward for hard work. You can't argue that they shouldn't on the basis that the employee has already been paid. Besides I paid my own way. "
"What do you mean?" Newberry took a deep gasp of breath. The medication obviously worked for Newberry from the pace that he was setting.
"What was the first trip they talk about?" asked Newberry.
"If I remember correctly, they say that you were flown to Gibraltar with your family for two weeks at Clearfield's expense."
"Well that's slightly disingenuous; Levy paid for the fares. I think he may have used up some air miles. In fact we had a cheap flight with Monarch Airlines to Malaga and then I hired a car and drove us down to Gibraltar - miserable place. Portland Bill in the sun. Ever been there?"
Newberry shook his head.
"Not missed much then. Let the Spanish have it. Anyway we stayed in a grotty hotel, and I also paid for the food and drink. It was a cheap holiday - and a boring one. "
"But why would he give you the air tickets. "
"As I said it's oiling the wheels of commerce. Look, the National's job was and is to lend money, and Masters wanted us to find commercial clients to lend to. Levy wanted to borrow money and subject to everything stacking up, we lent. It was his way of showing his appreciation.”
