Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry

by Matthew Campbell

A few days later, Flaux oversaw another hearing in the Talbot case, in which the judge made his feelings about Iliopoulos clear. “He demonstrated himself an aggressive and arrogant man,” Flaux told the shipowner’s lawyers. “He was rude to everyone here, including me.” Iliopoulos’s barrister made a final plea for understanding. “Yes, he gets upset,” she said. “Yes, he takes the case very personally.” Iliopoulos felt the London insurance market was mounting a campaign against him, she went on. “He takes exception to the allegation that he had the ship deliberately set on fire.” Flaux was unpersuaded. In his written judgment, issued several weeks later, he delivered a scathing assessment of Iliopoulos’s testimony, describing him as “evasive and non-responsive and, on occasions, aggressive and threatening.” Overall, Flaux had formed a clear view that “he was not telling the truth.” He dismissed the convoluted explanation offered for the missing archive as a “fabricated story” and “a complete invention.” As for Iliopoulos’s promise to make sure the insurers and their agents were “held responsible” for any allegations against him, the judge was unequivocal: “With this intemperate and menacing evidence, Mr. Iliopoulos lost any remaining shred of credibility.” It was clear, Flaux wrote, that his real intention was to build up a case against the insurers in Greece,