‘Lord’ jailed for failed £229m cyber bank raid

A self-styled lord was jailed for eight years today for his part in a "bold and sophisticated" bid to pull off the world's biggest theft.

Hugh Rodley, whose aristocratic pretensions were based on a manorial title, teamed up with a gang of internet thieves to attempt a £229 million Japanese bank raid.

Rodley presided over a complicated array of overseas front companies to launder the hoped for fortune, Snaresbrook crown court heard.

Meanwhile an "insider" at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation unlocked its London offices so hackers — using security cards belonging to other staff — could make night-time visits.

He also tampered with CCTV cameras and severed cables, but footage was recovered showing him joking with his conspirators.

Once inside, the two computer experts used software to record user names and passwords.

Repeated attempts followed to wire up to 13.9 million euros at a time, but last-minute "field logging errors" prevented the transfers.

Rodley, 61, of Tewkesbury, who denied the charges, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and to transfer criminal property.