53theblack,propertiesworthtensof
millions had beensold.Ifyoutookdebts
andpropertysales intoaccount,the
company barelyhad enoughmoneyto
coverits dividend payments. MCC’s
shares, the columnconcluded,were
basicallyworthless.
Maxwell wasfurious. But throughout
July 1990 theshare pricecontinuedto
tumble. Frantically,he beganbuying
MCCshares himselfto increase their
appeal–thatmonthalonehespent
more than£75m.Butit made no
difference.By the autumn, MCC’s debt
hadrisento£2.4bn.By the following
summerMaxwellwas spendinghis
nightsincasinos, playingthree roulette
wheelssimultaneously.Thecolumnist Taki remembersseeinghim
oneeveninginMayfair.“Hewasplayingenormousamounts –
£20,000 to£30,000on eachspin ofthewheel,”he said. “Hewas
obviouslytryingto recover something.”
Inhis final months,Maxwellspentmost ofhistimealoneinhis
Londonapartment.Unabletosleep, hewatchedJames Bond
movies and gorgedhimself onChinesetakeaways. Eachmorning,
twomaidswouldcome inandtidyup. Aswellasclearing away
theempty takeawaycontainers anddiscardedpapers,they had
to pick uptowels thathadbeenleftlyingabout –towels thathad
sometimes beenusedinsteadoftoiletpaper,thentossedontothe
floor. It’stemptingtoregardthisasjust anextremeexampleof
hislack ofconsideration forothers.Yetthereare otherways of
seeingit: asareversion tothe helplessness ofbabyhood;or the
behaviour ofsomeonewhohasgiven intoself-disgust.
On weekdaysat7am,Maxwell’s
sons Ianand Kevinwouldgoto
hisofficetodiscusstheday
ahead.“Increasingly,he would
be inafoulmood, partlybecause
he’dhardly slept,”Ian recalls.
“ItwasquiteobvioussomethingwasgoingtohappentoDad
physically soonerorlater.Icouldn’tseehow hecouldpossibly
sustainthislifestyle.”Butit wasn’t onlyMaxwell’sphysicalstate
thatwas cause forconcern. Henowowedmorethan £1bn.
Between them,LehmanBrothersand GoldmanSachs wereowed
£250m.Swiss Bank (owed£57m) wasthreateningtocall the
Fraud Squad.For Maxwell,therewasno escape;themore he
tookfromonepartof hisempiretoprop upanother part,the
more hewashackingthegroundfromunderhisownfeet.On 2 9
October 1991, SirRobertClark, thedirector of Mirror Group
Newspapers (MGN),said that therewere graveconcernsabout
unauthorised investments.“It’s allamistake,”Maxwell replied
airily.“I’m goingawayfor afew days to getrid of this cold.I’ll
explaineverything whenIreturn.”
On 31 October,GusRankin, thecaptain of Maxwell’s yacht, the
Lady Ghislaine[named after GhislaineMaxwell, the youngestof
hischildren,now in jailinthe US accused of procuring teenage
girls on behalfofthe financier JeffreyEpste in],receivedacallin
Gibraltar to saythat hisboss would be arriving the following
morning. Thefirst thin gRankinnoticed when Maxwell stepped
off hisprivate jet was that hewastravellingalone –normallyhe
wasaccompanied by staff. Rankinwas alsosurprisedby how
littl eluggage he had–justone suitcase. Afterapologisingfor
givinghim so littlenotice,Maxwellsaidhe would fit in with any
plans Rankin might have. “I’m justhere for theride,” he said.
Overthe following days,asthe Lady Ghislainesailed first to
Madeira, then to the Canaries,Maxwell remained in thesame
relaxedmood.“Iwould sayhe was very happy,”Rankinrecalled.
“Heseemedhealthy.Heate anddrankwell.” The only thing that
seemedodd wasthatMaxwelldidalmost noworkon board.
Instead, hepassedthetimelisteningto
Mozart operas,watchingJamesBond
videosandgazingoutto sea.On Tuesday5November,Maxwelland
Kevinweredueto meettheGovernorof
theBankofEnglandinLondon, where
theywouldface awkwardquestions
abouttheirsolvency. Itwassetto be
adayofreckoningonalmostevery
front:SwissBank wasaboutto go
publicover its £57m;Goldman was
goingto announce ithadbeenselling
MCCshares after repeateddelaysto the
repaymentofits loans;and Maxwell
wasscheduledto meetMGN’saudit
committee toexplaina£38mholein
the group’spension funds.The eveningbeforeallthiswasdueto takeplace ,Maxwell dined
aloneintheTenerifeportofSantaCruzbefore returningto the
LadyGhislaineatabout 1 0pm.At 1 0.45pm,oneof the yacht’s
stewards,Liza Kordalski,checkedinonhim.Maxwell toldher
he was fine.Halfanhourlater,Ianphonedto reportonaspeech
he’dmadeonhisfather’sbehalfinLondon. “He wasinagood
mood,”remembersIan.“Hewanted toknowhowaparticular
joke wehaddiscussedhadgonedown.”ThecallendedwithIan
saying:“Seeyoutomorrow,then.”“You bet,” saidMaxwell.Afterafewmorecalls,Maxwellretired tobed.Buthewaslater
spottedat 4.10am byacrewmemberstandingbythesternrail,
wearingawhitedressinggownand lookingatthelights ofGran
Canaria.At 4.45am,Maxwell phonedthecrewto sayhis bed-
roomwas too cold.Theair-conwasturnedoff, and theyacht
sailedon throughthe night.At about 6am, Kevin Maxwell
phonedhis father.Therewas no
reply.At 10.30amabanker
fromRothschild’sinNewYork
called,askingto beputthrough.
Again,there wasno reply.Ithappened againathirdtime.Puzzled
butnotespecially concerned, the crew went lookingforhim.
Therewasnosignofhimin thediningroom, orthekitchen,
oron anyofthedecks. Whenthecrewmanagedfinallytoopen
thelockeddoorofMaxwell’sstateroom–whereRankinhalf-
expectedtofind hisemployer lyinginbedhavingsuffereda
seizure –theyfound that itwasempty,too.“Atsomepoint it
sankinthathewasnoton the boat,”Rankinrecalled.Inastate
of shock,hesentoutanSOStoalerttheauthoritiesinport.Shortlybeforesixthat evening,helicopter pilot CaptainJesus
Fernandez Vaca, of the Spanish National Rescue Service, whohad
been at the heartofthe subsequent search for the tycoon, spotted
adarkshape in the seabelow. Unsurewhat it was, hedescended
for acloser look.Directly beneath the helicopter wasthe naked
body of aman.Hewas lying onhisback with legs spread-eagled
andarmsstretchedout on either side.Arescue diver, whowas
loweredinto the water, checkedfor apulse: nothing.“Myiniti al reactionwas utterdisbe lief,” saysIan Maxwell,
reliving themomentheheardthenews. “Itjust seemed too
far-fetchedtobetrue. Irememberhavinga30-secondcry and
it wasaccompanied by themostbizarre feeling,acombination
of exhi laration and beingscared. Exhilaratedtobefree of this
extraordinaryalpha-malepresenceinmylifeand,atthe same
time,incre dibly scaredas to whatthe futurewould look like
without him.”Hecould nothaveknown just howstrangethe
futurewasvery soon going to look.This is an edited extract fromFall: The Mysteryof Robert
Maxwellby John Preston, published by Viking at £18.99.Tobuy
from TheWeek’s bookshopfor £14.99, call 020-3176 3835.The lastword13 February 2021 THE WEEKGhislaine,RobertandIanin 1990“It was obvious something was going to
happen to Dad,” Ian Maxwell recalls.
“He couldn’t possibly sustain this lifestyle”