Sport's Strangest Crimes

Questions emerge about the validity of the calls outside Belfast and attention is drawn elsewhere where parallel secret negotiations seem to be happening with the mysterious leader and main owner of Shergar, the Aga Khan.

But nothing can stop the rumour mill from churning and there are reports Shergar is in Libya with Gadaffi and also that he has been taken by the New Orleans mafia.

It becomes impossible to separate fact from fiction...

A horse is kidnapped in the middle of the night. His name was Shergar.

He’s not just any horse, he's a prize-winning racehorse owned by an enigmatic spiritual leader, made famous for winning the 1981 Epsom Derby by 10 lengths.

A celebrity, a symbol of hope for Ireland, but mostly a real money earner. He was retired and ready to produce more prize-winning offspring, when suddenly he was taken.

Vanilla Ice has become fascinated with the...

This is the story of the world’s most high-profile kidnap...of a horse. Welcome to Epsom, the year is 1981 and Shergar, a prized stallion, has just won the 202nd Derby by ten lengths - the longest winning margin in the race’s history. Owned by the Aga Khan, the millionaire community leader, the champion horse gained international prominence and was regarded as a national hero during a difficult period in Irish history. On a c...

After attempted undercover operations, revelations from whistleblowers and numerous investigations going back years, the authorities in the USA decide to move against Sir Allen Stanford. In doing so the shocking truth behind his business empire is at last revealed to the world.

However, big questions remain: Will he face justice? Where is the money? What will happen to thousands of investors? How will the cricket authorities react ...

Just a few months after the $20 million cricket match in Antigua, a perfect storm is brewing around Allen Stanford and his sprawling business empire.

There are 'red flags' everywhere and with the financial world imploding the authorities in America are under pressure to act quickly before it's too late. But taking on a billionaire is not for the faint-hearted, there can be consequences. Both the FBI and SEC are nervous about their n...

After the groundbreaking $20 million cricket match, Allen Stanford was headline news across the cricketing world and beyond. He had delivered on his proposal to create a unique piece of sporting theatre, a cricket match the like of which had never been seen before. So as England's mens cricketers headed home following their defeat in the million dollar match, their counterparts in the West Indies celebrated their victory.

However aw...

Antigua, 1st November, 2008. Months after landing his helicopter on the Nursery Ground at Lord's, complete with a box of cash in tow, Allen Stanford's dream is now a reality. The waiting and talking is over.

One cricket match for $20 million. The winning players will walk away with a cool $1 million each, the losers will get absolutely nothing. One catch, one wicket or one run could be the difference between winning a life changing...

After leaving the island of Montserrat, Allen moves his growing banking empire to the newly independent island of Antigua. Here he quickly realises that cricket is THE sport in the Caribbean, the game that everyone loves and follows and hatches a plan to invest in a new T20 tournament in the West Indies. He invests millions of dollars, signs up the greats of Windies cricket and sets the ball rolling on his cricket revolution.

Howeve...

England's mens cricketers are preparing for a match that could change their lives forever. A one-off game that could net them $1 million each with one run, wicket or catch. It's a unique and extraordinary sporting prospect bankrolled by Allen Stanford. But how? Wasn't he just a washed up business failure from Texas?

After the collapse of his gym business Allen is declared bankrupt. However a chance meeting with a mysterious European...

Lord's 2008. The most sacred ground in cricket had never witnessed anything like it. Across the London skyline a helicopter appeared and slowly descended onto the hallowed turf. From within emerged a tall, brash Texan who was greeted by the great and the good of cricket. With him was a box of money, and not just a few quid....$20 million. The man was Allen Stanford and he had an audacious plan to revolutionise the game of cricket. ...

There’s nowhere to hide for serial fraudster Russell King. Holed-up in Bahrain, time has finally run out for the trillion dollar conman.

On his tail, a detective who has spent 10 years trying to bring him to justice for his crimes on the island of Jersey. But Russell King has one last throw of the dice.

Meanwhile Notts County, the football club he used and abused to satisfy his own greedy endeavours, are storming to glory in the mo...

Notts County were sold a dream of untold millions and Premier League football but it’s all come crashing down.

Over the course of just a few months the club has racked up millions of pounds of debts and now they can’t even pay the milk bill.

Sven Goran Eriksson has returned from his crazy trip to North Korea and conman Russell King has vanished.

As the creditors come knocking, Sven and chairman Peter Trembling go hunting for new in...

Revelations about Russell King’s criminal past have done nothing to dampen the spirits at Notts County football club. The team and the fans are on roll, dreaming again, their sights set on promotion.

Meanwhile, in one of the most bizarre episodes yet, the club’s director of football, Sven Goran Eriksson finds himself in North Korea – a guest of one of the most notorious regimes in the world.

He’s with the man pulling the strings beh...

Alice Levine heads to Jersey to delve deeper into fraudster Russell King’s criminal past. She discovers how King enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle on the island, living in a lavish multi-million pound home with a swimming pool and set in acres of beautiful grounds.

How he owned a collection of fast cars, hired private jets and enjoyed flights in a company helicopter. He was behind a business called Belgravia - a company which provid...