The man at the centre of one of Scotland’s most daring fraud attempts has died.
Royston Allen had been part of a 1980s plot that almost swindled £23 million from Britoil into a Swiss bank account.
Years before his career change to a psychology lecturer at Aberdeen University, Royston Allen was a company director when he and his then-mistress and Britoil cashier Alison Anders hatched a scam that would net the pair a £23 million jackpot. But their scheme was exposed at the final hour when two bank clerks noticed them switching an oil platform rental payment into a Swiss bank account.
On September 5, 1989, the future psychology lecturer was sentenced at the High Court in Aberdeen to serve five years in jail for his part in the plot, which was later adapted for television.
At the 1989 trial, the then advocate-depute Roderick Macdonald, QC, described the fraud: “Had it not been for the alertness and meticulousness of the two lady employees of the Bank of Scotland, Miss Sandra Mallinder and Mrs Mary Hall, it might well be that the attempt, which involved great simplicity and boldness, would have been successful.
“Had the attempt succeeded, the accomplished fraud would have exceeded by far the largest fraud ever committed in Scotland.
“Indeed, the sum obtained would have been by far the largest sum ever obtained by criminal means in Scotland.”
While in jail, Dr Allen married his former co-worker at Britoil Ms Anders and went on to serve only three years of his five year sentence before starting to study psychology at Aberdeen University and go back to his old past time of coaching Aberdeen American football team the Granite City Oilers.
On appeal, Ms Anders was released from jail after serving 20 months, and the couple moved in together in a remote croft at Maud in Aberdeenshire. Mrs Allen still lives in the house today.
After years of studying, in 1998 Dr Allen graduated from Aberdeen University with an honours degree in psychology, and soon after became a lecturer for the very same university, where it said that he would begin his lectures with a picture of his dog.
Students are said to have been emailed on Thurdsay morning that their lecturer has died at the age of 62 following a short illness.
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen University said: “The University community is very saddened to hear of the death of Dr Roy Allen of our Psychology department.
“He will be greatly missed by his students and colleagues. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”
Mrs Allen was contacted last night but declined to comment.