Crime boss on PH?

Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2009
Posts
10,311
Interesting story.

If the allegation is true, it's a shame really. Ignoring his illegal activities, my first impressions are he doesn't seem to be a bad bloke. Very intelligent about how he ran his life. It's a shame because he could've quit whilst he was ahead. But as with any illegal activities once you're involved, it's hard to quit and then it's only a matter of time until your tracks are uncovered.
 
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Interesting story.

If the allegation is true, it's a shame really. Ignoring his illegal activities, my first impressions are he doesn't seem to be a bad bloke. Very intelligent about how he ran his life. It's a shame because he could've quit whilst he was ahead. But as with any illegal activities once you're involved, it's hard to quit and then it's only a matter of time until your tracks are uncovered.

Lol ....I'm sorry but "nice bloke" ... if he was an organised crime boss I do not think it likely he would be a particularly 'nice bloke', at least not if you owed him money or got on the wrong side of him in some way. How many knee caps were shattered in the day to day operations of his business I wonder, how many people died!

People don't get to where he is and run global criminal cartels by being 'nice blokes' ...they do it by being unscrupulous, merciless, cut-throat bar-stewards.
 
Lol ....I'm sorry but "nice bloke" ... if he was an organised crime boss I do not think it likely he would be a particularly 'nice bloke', at least not if you owed him money or got on the wrong side of him in some way. How many knee caps were shattered in the day to day operations of his business I wonder, how many people died!

People don't get to where he is and run global criminal cartels by being 'nice blokes' ...they do it by being unscrupulous, merciless, cut-throat bar-stewards.

You could say the same about people in spie's position! Maybe with (marginally) less violence :p . But then he's nice enough when he's on here chatting about cars with everyone.
 
Interesting story.

If the allegation is true, it's a shame really. Ignoring his illegal activities, my first impressions are he doesn't seem to be a bad bloke. Very intelligent about how he ran his life. It's a shame because he could've quit whilst he was ahead. But as with any illegal activities once you're involved, it's hard to quit and then it's only a matter of time until your tracks are uncovered.
yea poor guy im sure he was a top bloke that wouldnt hurt a fly, his drugs never killed any body of wrecked lives, he wasnt a smug show off who only got caught because he drew so much attention towards himself either.

and you cant compare spie to a drug lord lol, if you want to compare him to anybody go watch scarface
 
You could say the same about people in spie's position! Maybe with (marginally) less violence. But then he's nice enough when he's on here chatting about cars with everyone.

Yea but Spie is running a perfectly legitimate business (so far as I know) ...within the law, a business that sells basically harmless technology (ok so a computer can be used for activities well outside of the law but mostly they are not; you can really say the same for illegal narcotics and such) yes of course it takes a degree of ruthlessness and a willingness to roll some heads when need be ...but the crucial difference is no heads actually get cut off ... no-one dies, no-one losses any limbs ...no-one gets tortured.

It's the whole violence bit that prompted me to say what I said, the nature of such business more or less necessitates violence I would think. Even if the chap doesn't 'like' violence, can you imagine some of the people he would be dealing with ...he would have to be ready to use it I'm sure or he'ed get knocked off the top spot faster than you can say 'top-spot'.

And then there is the whole, what does he think happens with the drugs after he has sold them? ...nothing good I'm sure.

My Dad has run his own business for 18 years now, he's a nice bloke ...and he doesn't cut people's ears off or have acid poured over people's genitalia or anything like that when things don't go his way. Sure he has determination and a ruthless streak I guess, but it's not even close to the same thing.

There is quite a difference between running a business within the law and running an organised crime set-up. Not that I am familiar with the later but it doesn't take a genius to work it out ...but I do think you are right in what you eluded to, about their being some similarities. But you could say the same about people who succeed in certain computer games at a pinch too I suppose.

This guy clearly didn't mess about, I doubt it was just people's avatars in computer games who's blood he had on his hands, be that directly or indirectly.

Tony Soprano seems like a nice guy if you get him at the right time with his family ...then you see him at other times 'at work' ...yea, really nice guy.
 
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I referred to him as not being a "bad bloke" - i.e. I didn't explictly praise him as a "nice bloke" as you suggest.

I browsed through some of his past posts (on PistonHeads) to form a first impression on him and based on his posting style and content you wouldn't think he was a big time drug baron (obviously). Of course this is his online persona and IRL it would be no surprise that violence (etc.) go hand-in-hand with his daily life.

He's a successful (albeit morally wrong) person but doesn't go out of his way to show this. Firstly for the obvious reason that it would give his game away. But secondly (and this is my opinion) because he is a modest person. He had a passion for exotic cars and greed funded this passion - he masterminded a business plan to make his dreams a reality. Obviously if you fulfill your passion the first thing you want to do is showcase this and his only outlet was through his online persona.

So you can form an instant opinion on him based on law and consequences, but IMO you cannot totally dismiss him as scum. If you read his posts, he actually isn't a "bad bloke".
 
Well yes ok you did not say he was a "nice bloke" exactly no, I took that as an inference really, I couldn't really work "not a bad bloke" into my rant quite so well ...so I took a 'Daily Mail' liberty there I guess.

I dismiss him as scum based on what I can only imagine he has very likely done, and I'm probably not able to imagine the half of it either. I don't know, none of us do ...but I can take a guess.

He wasn't arrested and branded as an “organised crime king-pin” for having a nice car collection now was he.

And I never got the impression he was particularly modest ...heck I could tell you that just from his car collection, 2 Rollers, a Ferrari Enzo a Veyron etc, not really the sort of cars the modest drive.

If you talk to him about cars on PH, he probably did come across as an 'ok' kind of guy though yea. Just as I very likely come across as a supreme **** at times on these forums, when really I am actually a nice bloke :)
 
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/modest said:
–adjective
1.
having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance, etc.; free from vanity, egotism, boastfulness, or great pretensions.
I didn't mean modest in a financial sense, more personality wise. He wasn't modest about his car collection online but (probably) was IRL. Maybe "humble" is a better description? [edit] He apparently drove a Focus ST as his daily car to avoid suspicion of his 'other' life - I guess that's what I was trying to express in that one word ;)

Additionally: He obviously is a "bad bloke" by definition. But to explain my use of the label, take for example drug baron "Mr. Egoista". Deals in exactly the same manner as Mr. Surin but instead of the profit funding a secret passion for exotic cars, he spends his illegal gain on prostitutes, fur coats, and other various vices, whilst being "flash" about it. On the otherhand, "Mr. Surin on PH" posted threads asking for advice on his Focus ST![/edit]
 
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humble for driving a focus? more like scared of police attention which he got in the end anyway

if he could have convinced people his money was all legit then he would have been driving his super cars on a daily basis instead of trying to keep them seperate from his every day life.
he probably had a regular house/flat aswell as a mansion in someone elses name does that make him humble to?
 
He's built this dynasty up for at least a decade. To say that he didn't simultaneously front a "legal lifestyle" would be foolish. I regard him as an intelligent and humble person up until the point where he got exposed (whatever and however that may have been). I wouldn't be surprised if his sentence is reduced drastically and he has rebuilt a new car collection.

Realistically, how many people are able to legally boast a £4m fleet like that by their early 40s? He's managed to fulfill his passion but now has to suffer the consequences (which he totally deserves, don't get me wrong).
 
haha havent read through the threads, savouring them for when i am at home from work but looking at the news article with the rollers with the plate bops i guess it was Tbops! he had a nice collection of cars! crime does pay
 
Yea but Spie is running a perfectly legitimate business (so far as I know) ...within the law, a business that sells basically harmless technology (ok so a computer can be used for activities well outside of the law but mostly they are not; you can really say the same for illegal narcotics and such) yes of course it takes a degree of ruthlessness and a willingness to roll some heads when need be ...but the crucial difference is no heads actually get cut off ... no-one dies, no-one losses any limbs ...no-one gets tortured.
I don't think it's surprising that there are some similarities between being a 'successful' crime boss and a successful business leader, especially in a Market as competitive as the one OcUK operates in.

My comment was just tongue in cheek with a little reference to Spie's self-admitted ruthlessness and the godfather rank structure on the forums.

Those little rants above were way too 'speakers corner' for this time of day in motors! Hehe.
 
i see how the level of success would be comparable, but the means used to get there would likely be very different. i dont imagine life in drug trafficing at that level is a pleasant place
 
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