2025-08-22
56 分钟This is The Guardian.
Hello, my name is Claire Longrick and I'm the Deputy Editor of The Guardian Long Read.
This summer we want to bring you our top picks of the year so far on the audio Long Read.
Today, I'd like to introduce a piece by Hetty O'Brien called An English Gentleman,
A Crooked Lawyer, The Secrets of Stephen David Jones.
Jones, a solicitor, is introduced as a master at whittling down tax bills,
but quickly builds a large and profitable practice involving offshore accounts in tax havens.
He plays on the image of English probity, appearing plausible and charming.
the epitome of an urbane, chivalrous Englishman and wearer of waistcoats.
From the minute Jones sets up an offshore trust for a client with his own company as the sole trustee,
alarm bells go off in the reader's mind.
As his brazen dealings engulf more and more people, the story has you jumping out of your seat.
Hetty managed to speak to former associates and even his brother,
who provide fascinating insights into his character and motivations.
including Jones's Christian faith,
which is sort of a shock considering he was engaged in high-level tax avoidance and fraud.
The details of Jones's increasingly convoluted deals get stranger and stranger,
like a £120,000 commission collected in cash from a money transfer shop in Streatham in small plastic bags.
But the people involved are too far gone, too invested and too trusting to say, wait a minute.
The man at the centre of this trail of debt,