In the years following the Second World War, thousands of Australians took to the land and began a new life in farming. One of these was Roy Greensill, who planted and harvested sugar cane, watermelons and peanuts on a small plot outside Qunaba, Queensland. The township lies a few miles to the east of the nearest large urban centre, Bundaberg. It was named for the only local landmark, the Qunaba Mill, which was previously known as the Mon Repos Mill until it was taken over, in 1900, by the Queensland National Bank. Qunaba is a kind of portmanteau of the bank’s own name. Main article: Giza pyramid complex Map of the Giza pyramid complex Aerial view of the Giza pyramid complex While other alleged affairs have been attached to Mr Johnson’s name throughout his career, claims of an alleged fling with American tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri have attracted the most media attention. And so that's part of what he's doing. The other piece of it is to say, hey, I've got this super duper new technology, which will make this thing run a lot more smoothly. The reality actually was slightly different. The technology mostly wasn't Greensill Capital, there was very little technology at Greensill at all. And he was relying largely on third-party technology platforms. And the other reality that was different was that much of Greensill's business was not supply chain finance at all. It was just lending, unsecured lending usually to risky companies.

Pyramid of Lies by Duncan Mavin | Waterstones Pyramid of Lies by Duncan Mavin | Waterstones

When the victims started comparing notes, they realized the basis of this scam was implausible,” said Lovell, referring to the sheer volume of tractors Gentry would have needed to sell to justify what he promised investors. “The victims can see in hindsight how ludicrous it was to believe that this scheme was true.” If we can pull off [a public listing]”, Lex Greensill says in early 2020, “me and my brother will be the richest men in Australia”; just over a year later, he tells one of his major shareholders, “It’s over... I’m ashamed for what I’ve done to my family name”. As ever, the dream dies gradually, then suddenly.

“Most of these people were friends of his. They wouldn’t believe that someone close to them like that would be doing that.”

Duncan Mavin of Dow Jones joins the Essential Podcast to talk about his new book "The Pyramid of Lies: Lex Greensill and the Billion Dollar Scandal". Duncan discusses Greensill Capital and its collapse, which damaged the reputations of a former U.K. Prime Minister, prominent venture capitalists, and Credit Suisse. He also talks about the bizarre experience of reporting on a company where the red flags were obvious, and yet thoroughly ignored by investors.

A Pyramid of Lies — FBI A Pyramid of Lies — FBI

And Lex, like some of the others in Silicon Valley, he was very keen to be seen as a visionary, very keen to sort of align himself with very important global politicians and financiers and so on because he knew that there was a lot of value in doing that. And I think if you look at what he claimed with the Obama White House, it was -- that was part for him of saying, look, I'm a really big, important powerful player. I mean in the end, right, like Lex Greensill's company was valued at several billion dollars. And part of the reason for that was because he was making these outlandish claims. Old Kingdom of Egypt". World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021 . Retrieved 27 May 2020.Pyramid of Lies charts the meteoric rise and spectacular downfall of Lex Greensill and his company. He had a simple idea that disrupted a trillion dollar industry and drew in Swiss bankers, global CEOs, and world leaders, including former British Prime Minister, David Cameron. But a staid business model concealed dubious practices, as Greensill made increasingly risky loans to fraudulent companies using other people’s money. There was another term frequently applied to Greensill: ‘shadow bank’. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, tougher regulations had forced traditional banks to set aside large amounts of capital to cover for another calamity. That had driven the banks from newly burdensome businesses, and money that previously ran through big global finance houses instead washed up in companies that were much less tightly regulated, and which thrived by skirting rules designed to prevent a financial scandal. Greensill was one of them. He also worked voluntarily with an industry group for farmers where he tried to get a better deal out of the supermarkets and wholesale fruit and vegetable buyers. He’d work on the terms in their sales contracts, including how and when they were paid. He claimed that his pro bono work for the farmers’ association had a far-reaching impact. ‘Basically, the little guys get screwed by the big guys,’ he told me. ‘The market in Australia has completely reformed, in no small part, because basically from the point I started my legal career I spent a chunk of my time working gratis on that to help farmers get a better deal.’ It's OK as far as it goes but the author doesn't come across anywhere near the skill of for example, Ian Fraser in his book Shredded which is about RBS. I can't think why there wasn't more in here about Gupta and why Greensill was so chained to what was going on with that company. In the end it was obvious why but nowhere near enough work done to explain that.