Business Career
In 1998 South African authorities investigated his firm for allegedly running loan shark operations. A company owned by Thatcher offered unofficial small loans to hundreds of police officers, military personnel and civil servants. Those who defaulted were pursued by debt collectors and charged 20% interest rates, according to the Star of Johannesburg. According to The Daily Telegraph of 26 August 2004: "In 1998, he was at the centre of a scandal after he lent huge sums of money at exorbitant interest rates to more than 900 local police officers and civil servants in Cape Town. He admitted lending the cash but insisted that he had done nothing wrong. He is also thought to have profited from contracts to supply aviation fuel in various African countries."
Other embarrassments include allegations of U.S. tax evasion (a criminal case was eventually dropped) and a racketeering case in Texas which was settled out of court. The Sunday Times, quoting "city sources", said he had amassed a personal fortune of £60 million, most of which is in offshore accounts, attributed to shrewd investments and a series of "astute deals in Africa".
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