The wealthiest criminal in the UK is fraudster John Palmer, with an estimated wealth of £300m, according the Underworld Rich List compiled for a BBC series.
John "Goldfinger" Palmer is a rich man. Not only is he the number one fraudster in the BBC's rich list of the UK's criminal classes, he is the wealthiest villain overall.

His fortune has been estimated as bigger than the Queen's, with assets including a leased private Lear jet, two helicopters, a chateau in France with its own golf course, a fleet of flash cars, various properties in Tenerife and around England, including a mansion worth more than £1m near Bath.

Now in his 50s, Palmer was one of seven children brought up by his mother in Olton, near Birmingham. His family had no money. Compounding this apparently unpromising start was the fact that he's dyslexic.

His old school friend Stephen Marland says the turn-around in Palmer's fortunes is "absolutely mind-blowing".

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought he'd have been on that scale of richness."

Mr Marland remembers his friend regularly falling asleep in class. "John got away with it quite often. The teacher would be talking to you about something and John's head would be on the desk."

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