Bernie Silver
| Bernie Silver | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Bernard Silver December 1922 Hackney, London, England |
| Died | 2002 Westminster, London, England |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
Bernard "Bernie" Silver (December 1922, Hackney, London - 2002, Westminster, London) was an English criminal, who was a leading crime boss in the London underworld of the 1950s to 1970s. Active in prostitution, pornography and racketeering, Silver was described as "a working-class East Ender with a taste for fine restaurants and flashy clothes."
Silver was born into a Jewish family, and had three younger brothers - Raymond, Dennis and Ronald.
Silver's rise to prominence began in the mid 1950s with the absorption of the remants of the Messina Brothers prostitution operation into what came to be known as "The Syndicate", a criminal organisation headed principally by Silver and former Maltese traffic policeman "Big Frank" Mifsud who worked in olive oil importation when he first came to London. In 1956, Silver was arrested and charged for living off immoral earnings but was inexplicably let off by the judge who decided there was no case to answer. Starting off with one stripclub in Bower Street, by the late 60's the duo controlled 19 of the 24 stripclubs in Soho.
During the heyday of the Syndicate (1967–1972), most of the Metropolitan Police Obscene Publications Squad were in its pay, including the squad's head, Detective Chief Superintendent Bill Moody.
Silver's influence began to wane as the 1970s wore on, a decline prompted by major investigations into police corruption that by the end of 1972 had led to the resignation of eighty detectives. The discovery of a detailed ledger of the Syndicate's police payoffs during a raid on the home of Silver associate Jimmy Humphreys led to the dismissal or forced retirement of hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers; corruption trials in 1976–77 resulted in thirteen detectives—including two ex-Commanders, the highest-ranking British police officers ever to be convicted of corruption—being sentenced to a total of 90 years in prison.
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