At that time it was one of the largest private businesses in Britain, but it collapsed in the early 1990s under the weight of its debt and amid accusations of fraud.

He launched a bid for quoted car dealership Frank G. Gates in 1985[4] but specialised in spotting property development sites and obtaining planning permission for them.

[5] The group described itself as "An integrated holdings group with global capacity" operating in Australasia, Europe, North America and the U.S.S.R.[6] Its businesses included meat processing and sheep farming in Australia, financial services in the Caribbean, and commercial property holdings in Ireland.

[5] It redeveloped the Farnborough airfield for the Ministry of Defence and the Carroll Aircraft Corporation held the licence for civil operations there.

[3] In 1988,[9] he bought Warren Park stud farm at Newmarket from Captain Marcos Lemos for £7 million together with its 300 acres of land and a large house.

[12] In 1989, the group signed a protocol of intent for a £150 million British-Soviet trade centre to be built in Moscow in conjunction with Balfour Beatty.

The Observer, who described the group as "one of Britain's largest private enterprises",[13] reported however that the chief executive of Carroll Industries Corporation, Anthony Clarke, flatly denied that anything was wrong, stating that pre-tax profits for the year ended 30 March 1990 were £13 million compared to £14.1 million for the eleven months ended 30 March 1989.

Afterwards, records were found showing the purchase of bugging equipment and the employment of private detectives to watch the bankers involved.

[3] In July 1992, a rescue operation was carried out in conjunction with Midland Bank[3] and £100m of assets were moved from the Carroll Foundation to the Urban Finance Corporation Limited[5] which was incorporated on 10 April 1992[15] and last filed accounts for the year ended 31 March 1993.

[7] An active campaign continues on social media such as Twitter, Facebook and blogspot.com that links the alleged fraud to current events and popular conspiracy theories.