George John Frederick Dawson (1907–1985)[1][2] was a British businessman and convicted fraudster who became one of the country's first post-war millionaires by dealing in army surplus vehicles and scrap metal.
[6][4][7] Dawson made his largest surplus deal in 1950: the purchase of U.S. Army material in Germany comprising 18,000 vehicles and trailers and 6,500 tons of scrap metal.
On 4 November 1938, at the end of a trial at the Old Bailey lasting 17 days and hearing evidence from more than 160 witnesses, Dawson and three other men were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud Assurance Financial Trust Ltd.
By his own account he made his first deal in 1945, buying German army surplus in the Channel Islands and making a profit of £60,000.
[4][16] Dawson traded British army surplus through Ernest Reid & Company with his business partner, Christopher Allingham.
Webb also reported that the civil servant who had negotiated the sale, Norman Henry Teakle, became a director of another of Dawson's companies while still working at the Ministry.
Webb also found that when Ernest Reid & Co sold the surplus vehicles on, the sale proceeds recorded in its books were fractions of the true amounts.
In one case a customer had bought vehicles for a total of £157,000 but only £15,000 was recorded in Ernest Reid & Co's books, and the remaining £142,000 was paid directly to Dawson.
The Americans made a bulk sale of this material to the German Bizonal Economic Council, and legal ownership was then transferred to the STEG Corporation (State Collection Company for Public Goods [de]).
In order to dispose of the remaining material, STEG entered into a contract with Dawson on 28 February 1950, agreeing to sell him 18,000 vehicles and trailers and 6,500 tons of spare parts and scrap metal for $3,200,000 (£1,143,000).
In addition, the outbreak of the Korean War in the summer of 1950 meant the demand for army surplus was now greater than it had been when Dawson signed his original contract with STEG.
[8][21][22][16] Less than a month after the new contract had taken effect, the West German government instructed STEG to freeze its sales of American surplus following a request from the United States to reacquire equipment needed by its army in Europe.
[23][24][25] Trucks & Spares made a claim for compensation against STEG for the losses incurred due to the two freezes, and an amount was deducted from the purchase price in autumn 1952.
[26][8] However, during his bankruptcy hearings in 1957, Dawson said that the compensation amount had not covered his maintenance and storage costs or his loss of profit, and he intended to make an additional claim against the Americans.
[10] In 1950 the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments initiated an investigation into the disposals of U.S. Army surplus overseas, which resulted in Dawson's activities coming under scrutiny.
In March 1951 a subcommittee chaired by Herbert C. Bonner heard evidence that American firms had purchased U.S. Army vehicles from Trucks & Spares and reimported them into the United States.
[37] On 14 October 1953 the Icelandic trawler Ingolfur Arnarson docked at Grimsby, and Dawson was present to meet the ship's captain and address reporters.
The official receiver told the court the way in which Dawson conducted his business, including the use of nominees and keeping little or no record of his transactions, would make discovering the true circumstances unusually difficult, if not impossible.
All six men were charged with conspiring, between 1954 and 1957, to cheat and defraud such persons as might be induced to part with moneys in connection with transactions relating to the sale and purchase of orange juice concentrate and other articles by false pretences and fraudulent conversion.
Although the Ministry would not provide a certificate stating that the orange juice concentrate was fit for human consumption, Dawson agreed to buy it for £12,800.
In addition, the companies created by Dawson for trading the orange juice concentrate were never solvent, and their main purpose was to enable him to obtain cash by drawing and discounting bills of exchange.
[49][51] In January 1956 Dawson obtained £25,000 from his friend Winifred Paterson to buy army surplus landing vehicles (LVTs).
[49][52] In April 1956 Veritas Investments Finance Ltd made a loan of £8,740 to Bulk Containers Ltd, another of Dawson's companies, for purchases of railway locomotives, diesel engines and accessories.
During his defence statement, which lasted a total of eight hours and 35 minutes, Dawson said he had been persecuted by the police for 10 years and a superintendent in the Fraud Squad had tried to extort £50,000 from him.
[65][62][66][67] Dawson and Olga lived at Villa La Saugette, a 13-bedroomed property on Avenue Fiesole in Cannes, and their lavish lifestyle was the subject of newspaper articles.
[73] However, Dawson and Olga attended court together on 17 May and stated through joint legal counsel that they were terminating all outstanding litigation between them and there was no foundation to the charges that had been made.
[45] In January 1958 Dawson's mortgage lender was granted a possession order for Garden Court and the couple moved into a rented flat in Putney.