On February 23, 1995, Leeson left a note on his desk saying and fled the country. He left behind a $1.4 billion loss —more than double the bank's entire available capital.
Because he was in charge of both the trading floor and the back-office reporting (the "settlements"), he was effectively his own boss, allowing him to cook the books and make it look like he was making millions while he was actually drowning. The Kobe Earthquake Rogue Trader (1999)
Leeson was eventually caught in Germany and sentenced to six and a half years in a Singaporean prison. The 1999 film, starring , captures that claustrophobic spiral of a man who wasn't necessarily a criminal mastermind, but a gambler who simply didn't know when to fold. On February 23, 1995, Leeson left a note
The true story of is a masterclass in how a "can-do" attitude can accidentally demolish a 233-year-old institution. The Kobe Earthquake Leeson was eventually caught in