al, but siphoning monies from lenders into shell companies in order to hide their ultimate destination was not. Bankers were willing to work with Maxwell on the strength of his character and charm, and put aside financial discretion and typical financial procedures, such as thoroughly investigating the projects and sources of funding that Maxwell proposed. Accepting that Liechtenstein was an appropriate base of operations, for example, without requiring additional supporting documentation places at least part of the onus for Maxwell(s eventual failures on the men with whom he transacted business.
Maxwell was greedy, there is no getting around that, but he was not alone in his greed. Just as he profited from the various transactions that he put forth, so did his accountants, auditors and others in his financial circle. Even those who did not profit directly from his transactions stood to profit from the immense fees associated with those transactions. Greed begets greed, and there was plenty to go around in the Maxwell empire.
What enabled Maxwell to propagate his fraud was the illusion of success and either an inability or an unwillingness on the part of his financiers to seriously investigate that success. So long as Maxwell was able to show some return to investors, and his endlessly complex business arrangements enabled him to do so, there were those who would overlook the convoluted business arrangements, lack of financial details available and concentrate instead on the high returns that they could enjoy. While Maxwell may have been ultimately responsible for the raiding of the pension fund and for participating in other financial irregularities, the financial world at large must also be held accountable for failing to expose his sleight of hand earlier.
The accounts of Maxwell(s dealings focus on his flamboyant style, on his raiding pension funds and on the creative bookkeeping in which he was engaged. Financiers ...