Moving at a tangent to our normal postings, it is with great interest that we recently discovered a connection between the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and Letters of Credit.
Sherlock Holmes was, of course, a creation of the British author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Those of you who have read the books ... or even seen the films or TV series ... will remember that his criminal nemesis was Professor James Moriarty, described by Holmes as the ‘Napoleon of Crime'.
Apparently, Moriarty was inspired by a real-life criminal named Adam Worth (1844-1902), born in Germany, moved to the United States, then based in London.
According to records of the time, four associates of James Worth were arrested in Istanbul for spreading forged letters of credit. They were convicted and sentenced to seven years of hard labour in prison, but Worth was able to bribe the appropriate officials and get them released.