Jagmeet Channa may name the shadowy figures behind the biggest attempted fraud in British history. What is more likely is that the 25-year-old will maintain his vow of silence inside his prison cell, preserving his position as the only person caught after a plot to steal £72m from inside the London headquarters of one of the world's largest companies, the HSBC banking group.'He won't say who he was involved with. He won't say how it all happened, who else there was. He is an intelligent guy, has a degree in economics, comes from a very respectable family and has no previous convictions. He knew precisely what he was doing when conspiring to fraud,' said David Levy, assistant director of the Crown Prosecution Service fraud unit and the man who took the decision to charge the young banker.It was shortly after 9am on Friday, 18 April, while working at HSBC's Canary Wharf headquarters, that Channa authorised two seemingly straightforward transactions. But they were made using passwords stolen from colleagues. No one paid much attention - the new clerk from Essex was considered a safe pair of hands. Channa had arrived 10 months earlier on a short-term contract, but his diligence quickly secured a staff job. Yet the ambitions of the bright new recruit were less transparent. Unknown to colleagues, their studious, softly spoken colleague from Ilford was the inside man for a syndicate looking to orchestrate a crime that would have rocked public confidence in the banking system during a period of acute economic uncertainty. That spring morning, Channa wired €60m (£48m) to an account at French bank Société Générale in Casablanca, Morocco, then moments later, he despatched €30m to a branch of Barclays in Manchester. 'It was totally audacious, and said to be the biggest fraud of its kind in the UK, certainly the biggest we've handled. It's probably as big as you'll get in one hit in two directions,' said Levy. As the bank's employees filed home that night, Channa behaved as if nothing had happened. Typically, he spent the weekend at the suburban family home. Yet beneath his calm exterior, Channa was euphoric. Transcripts of telephone calls made from his HSBC landline that Friday reveal a series of calls informing several characters that the fraud was a triumph. Attempts to uncover their identities have proved fruitless because they were using pay-as-you-go handsets. Less clear is what Channa intended to do with his riches. Subsequent investigations found no evidence of plans to flee the country, nor ostentatious spending sprees. The young banker appeared to have planned to carry on living with his father and two brothers in their two-storey terraced house in Essex, where police found computer print-outs of the fraudulent transactions and a memory drive holding information on his colleagues' stolen identities. Channa had pulled off the biggest crime in British history in terms of the amount of cash stolen - more than 27 times that taken during the Great Train Robbery in 1963 and almost £20m more than the used notes stolen in 2006 during an armed raid on a Kent cash depot. Then, just after lunchtime on the Sunday, Channa's plan fell apart. Banking security officials 9,000 miles away in Malaysia had noted a double transaction, prompting 'cause for concern'. Channa had used a global financial holding account where vast amounts are paid in then removed. At the close of daily trading, the account should register zero, but Channa had inexplicably forgotten to change it and his holding account was showing a massive debt. It was an elementary error that, if Channa had avoided it, might have allowed him to pull off his record-breaking crime.
Channa's decision to execute the crime on a Friday had compounded his mistake. With trading frozen over weekends, security officials find it much easier to detect anomalies. Had Channa committed the fraud during the frenetic trading of the working week, his scam may have remained undetected for long enough to allow his partners to empty the £72m from the accounts in Manchester and Morocco. Levy said: 'The reality is that the money had gone, that is the incredible thing. The theft had taken place, fulfilled in its entirety.'
The £72m was frozen and returned to HSBC. Meanwhile, City of London police arrested, but quickly released, the two colleagues whose identities Channa had stolen. Analysis of the CCTV cameras on the 43rd floor of HSBC's headquarters confirmed that only Channa could be responsible. Levy added: 'He had cheated the system. He had to use deceptive methods to steal those IDs and use them to cover his tracks.'
Five days after committing the transaction, Channa was arrested. No explanation was offered, in fact Channa refused to utter a word. He had taken the extraordinary decision to protect his accomplices despite knowing his sentence could be slashed if he named them. 'The fact is the guy just clammed; he didn't help himself. But the question is: why did he clam?' said Levy.
The following day Channa was charged with conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and abuse of trust. Within a week of committing the fraud, he was facing jail. Yet for the police and international banks, the inquest had only just begun. Even now, officers have no idea for how long the crime was being planned. Was Channa a 'sleeper', deliberately planted inside HSBC by an international criminal syndicate he had met before joining the bank? Was he deliberately targeted by organised fraudsters? What does seem clear is that his family and friends had no idea of his double life. Some believe he was coerced or threatened into facilitating the crime. Certainly his actions appear out of character.
'He was always a good boy and knew what he wanted to do with his life,' said a close family friend, who requested anonymity, outside the family home last week. He was at a loss to explain why Channa had suddenly decided to sacrifice his career and future. 'He fucking hates [prison]. He's surrounded by the worst criminals. They're in for violent crimes. His wasn't a violent offence. It's not right.'
Channa had, after all, toiled throughout his life to realise his dream of forging a career in finance. After leaving Seven Kings High School, Ilford, with four A-levels, Channa went to the University of Hertfordshire, funding his education through part-time positions as a shopfloor assistant. 'He got a glowing reference from Seven Kings. His CV is amazing ,' said the family member. Friends point to his charity commitments as evidence of good character. Months before his arrest, Channa had completed a 30-mile walk for Oxfam and finished the Nike 10K run. The one notable tragedy in his life was the suicide of his mother four years ago. In light of any other explanation, his family are convinced that Channa had been forced to commit the fraud. The family member added: 'I think there are a lot more people involved. It wasn't something he did out of choice. He would have known something like this would come back to haunt him. I can't say whether he was threatened or not. The police might think that they've found their man, but they haven't.'
In particular, mystery surrounds the Moroccan link. His family say Channa has never been to the north African country and has no connections there. Detectives, meanwhile, believe that deciphering who set up the account in Casablanca holds the key to the mystery but, despite British investigators requesting information from the Moroccan authorities, no assistance has been forthcoming. Officers are adamant, however, that whoever was behind the Casablanca connection knew what they were doing; Channa appears to have been briefed meticulously on what to do.
'He wasn't the only person, but clearly he was going to benefit, get a cut from it. He had a lot to gain and the bank had an awful lot to lose,' said Levy. 'The case is not closed. Channa knows what it's all about, but he's not going to tell us.'
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