Bill Fairclough, full name John William Percy Fairclough aka Edward Burlington[1], (born 31 August 1950) is an international businessman[2] and was an English Chartered Accountant for over forty years[3]. Remarkably, he spent much of his overt public career from 1969 working covertly as an intelligence asset for various intelligence agencies while working for over forty years at managerial and later executive or board level for well-known regulated businesses operating in the international financial services sector. He lived a double life or dual existence for over forty years albeit his colleagues and regulators were mostly unaware of it[4].
According to his biography[3] and his own publications[4], Bill Fairclough was “the author of The Burlington Files (http://www.theburlingtonfiles.org/)[1], a series of six spy novels based on his life”. Only the first novel in the series, Beyond Enkription[5][6], has been published[7][8]. He acted as an intelligence agent either in his own right or, from 1978 until 2018 mostly via Faire Sans Dire (http://www.fairesansdire.org/), a niche global intelligence and investigatory organisation which he established and controlled[9][10].
Bill Fairclough’s career started in 1969 as a trainee accountant at Cooper Brothers[11][12][13], later to become Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant[12][13][14] with Coopers & Lybrand, he covertly established Faire Sans Dire (http://www.fairesansdire.org/) in 1978[12][13][15][16] to provide a conduit whereby intelligence agencies involved mainly in law enforcement could more easily work together[15]. The goal was to help prevent the exponential spread of international organised crime[15]. At that time he was an executive at Coopers & Lybrand, reporting to the International Firm’s CEO[11][12][13] as the first ever Secretary to Coopers & Lybrand’s International Executive Committee[11][12][13] which was made up of the CEOs of national firms in the major countries (eg the USA, UK, Canada and Australia) in which Coopers & Lybrand operated.
After leaving Coopers & Lybrand in 1983[11][12][13], Bill Fairclough continued to work in the international financial services industry while still retaining control of Faire Sans Dire. He was a Vice President at Citigroup from 1983 to 1986[11][12][13]. He left Citicorp after heading up an investigation which resulted in the overhaul of Citicorp's global management and corporate structure and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax penalties across the globe. From 1986 to 1999 he was a Director of many renowned companies in the Barclays Bank Group (including the Mercantile Credit and BZW Groups) and the Reuters Group (to which he was seconded from 1993 to 1995)[11][12][13]. In his later years with Barclays from 1996 to 1999 he was a Group Senior Executive[11][12][13] and a Director of Barclays Holdings[17] (whose name was changed to Barclays Directors on 17 January 1999[18]). From 1999 he switched roles and Faire Sans Dire became his main occupation, albeit covertly until 2010 when it opened its first public website[15], while simultaneously taking on Directorships in various companies[2] not only in the financial services sector.
While working in the public domain as a Chartered Accountant (or “bean counter” as Bill Fairclough sometimes described his day job[19]), he simultaneously covertly undertook secret assignments working with law enforcement or intelligence agencies from around the world. Of the hundreds of assignments he was involved in he has publicly acknowledged (mainly in Beyond Enkription) that he was involved in the following investigations into:
· The John Poulson affair and subsequent resignation of Reginald Maudling[20]
· Corruption et al involving Milton Obote and Idi Amin in Uganda[21]
· India’s Operation Smiling Buddha and nuclear proliferation issues[22]
· Nuclear proliferation issues involving South Africa’s Bureau of State Security[22]
· Fraud and related crimes by Robert Vesco in the Caribbean[23]
· Bribery and fraud in Honduras by President Oswaldo Enrique López Arellano[24]
· Alleged breaches of international aviation regulations by Haïti Air Inter[25]
· Corruption involving Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier and the TonTon Macoute[25]
· Corruption involving Luckner Cambronne, the "Vampire of the Caribbean"[25]
· Lynden Pindling and his links to Carlos Lehder and other drug traffickers[26]
· Suspected terrorism and arson at Mercantile Credit’s Head Office in Churchill Plaza, Basingstoke[27]
· Scandals involving The Money Portal plc and its regulators[11][12][13][16]
Since 1969, Bill Fairclough and Faire Sans Dire have undertaken investigations into corruption and wrong-doing in over 120 jurisdictions[28]. Prior to the publication of Beyond Enkription in 2014, their covert involvement in such assignments only once entered the public domain. On that occasion Bill (John) Fairclough was named as a defendant in court proceedings[29] commencing in 2005 concerning his investigations into scandals involving one Director of The Money Portal plc. The allegations made against him were withdrawn after the Director concerned was removed from the company's board and disqualified from acting as a Director for ten years: later the same Director[30] was bankrupted, extradited and imprisoned in order to face charges brought against him by the Serious Fraud Office. Richard Hambro (Chairman of The Money Portal plc) agreed to a settlement[31] with Bill Fairclough which he accepted in 2006.
References
1. Fairclough, John William Percy. "List of Directorships (Appointments After 1990 Only)" (https://opencorporates.com/officers?page=1&q=John+William+Percy+Fairclough&utf8=%E2%9C%93). Open Corporates. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
2. Fairclough, Bill (4 May 2015). "Bill Fairclough's Biography" (https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Fairclough-119&public=1). WikiTree. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
3. Fairclough, Bill. "Beyond Enkription (All Worldwide Publications in Hardback & Softback but Excluding Kindle eBooks)" (https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?full=on&ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=X.Sr6mbI2JIULNzbNYX4WQtpDrk_1497963026_1:2:1). BookFinder. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
4. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. ISBN 978-1909204720.
5. Fairclough, Bill (2014). Beyond Enkription. Charleston South Carolina USA: CreateSpace. ISBN 1497314186.6.
6. Fairclough, John (21 August 2015). "The Burlington Files & Beyond Enkription - Update" (http://www.fairesansdire.org/the-burlington-files-beyond-enkription-update/index.php). FaireSansDire. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
7. Fairclough, John (18 May 2014). "The Burlington Files & Beyond Enkription - Press Release" (http://www.fairesansdire.org/the-burlington-files-beyond-enkription-press-release/index.php). FaireSansDire. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
8. Fairclough, John William Percy (2 April 2008). "Faire Sans Dire Limited" (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06552657). Companies House (UK). Retrieved 23 March 2018.
9. Fairclough, John (1 January 2010). "The History of Faire Sans Dire" (http://www.fairesansdire.org/about-us/index.php). Faire Sans Dire. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
10. "Bill Fairclough - Overt Professional Life" (https://everipedia.org/wiki/bill-fairclough/#overt-professional-life). Everipedia. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
11. "Bill Fairclough Biography" (https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Fairclough-119&public=1). WikiTree. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
12. "Bill Fairclough WikiSpooks Article" (https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Bill_Fairclough). WikiSpooks. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
13. "Bill Fairclough - Education" (https://everipedia.org/wiki/bill-fairclough/#education). Everipedia. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
14. "The History of Faire Sans Dire" (http://www.fairesansdire.org/about-us/index.php). FaireSansDire. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
15. "Bill Fairclough - Covert Professional Life" (https://everipedia.org/wiki/bill-fairclough/#covert-professional-life). Everipedia. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
16. "John William Percy Fairclough" (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01728893/officers?page=7). Companies House (UK). 9 February 1996. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
17. "Barclays Holdings & Barclays Directors" (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01728893). Companies House (UK). 17 January 1999. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
18. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. introduction, The Author & The Series. ISBN 978-1909204720.
19. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. 102,103,122,135,354,361. ISBN 978-1909204720.
20. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. p. 143. ISBN 978-1909204720.
21. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. Chapters 11 – 13. ISBN 978-1909204720.
22. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. Chapters 22,23,28. ISBN 978-1909204720.
23. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. Chapter 21. ISBN 978-1909204720.
24. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. Chapters 28, 31 – 35. ISBN 978-1909204720.
25. Fairclough, Bill (2015). Beyond Enkription. Thatcham England: Dolman Scott. pp. Chapters 21 – 22. ISBN 978-1909204720.
26. Fisher, Liz (1 July 1991). "From Devastation to Survival" (http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/5872218/from-devastation-survival). Accountancy (The ICAEW's Official Magazine). Retrieved 23 March 2018.
27. "Faire Sans Dire" (http://www.fairesansdire.org/). FaireSansDire. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
28. Sherwen, Patrick (13 October 2005). "The Money Portal Trial: a Tale of 'Pillocks, Parasites' and Aberdeen" (http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/the-money-portal-trial-a-tale-of-pillocks-parasites-and-aberdeen /a269307). Citywire. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
29. Garland, Ian (24 April 2012). "Pension Fund Boss 'stole £52million to fund lavish lifestyle and pay for his divorce' "(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134516/Pension-fund-boss-stole-52million-fund-lavish-lifestyle-pay-ex-wife.html). Daily Mail (Mail Online). Retrieved 23 March 2018.
30. Sherwen, Patrick (28 July 2006). "TMP Ends Bitter Battle with Former Directors through Settlement" (http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/tmp-ends-bitter-battle-with-former-directors-through-settlement/a275292). Citywire. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
31. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Fairclough&oldid=832074829
This page was last edited on 23 March 2018, at 18:34.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
This article was first published on March 23, 2018.