Spooks tailed conman John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer for 16 years before he was murdered by ‘assassin’
Intelligence was gathered on Palmer because of concerns of corruption in the Metropolitan Police
GANGSTER John “Goldfinger” Palmer was spied on by spooks for 16 years before a hitman killed him, it emerged yesterday.
The timeshare conman, 65, was shot dead at his Essex home in 2015.
Police said his killing had "all the hallmarks" of a professional hit after it was revealed a small hole was drilled through his garden fence with a screwdriver to spy on him before the suspect scaled the wooden fence and came at him with a pistol.
An ex-intelligence officer revealed Palmer was under surveillance until his murder, including the four years he spend in jail for fraud.
It was because of fears of corruption in the Met Police.
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The former spook said: “We knew what officers he had in his pocket, and what other criminals he was mixing with.”
Earlier this year a £50,000 reward was offered to help catch Palmer's killer, and the case featured on BBC One's Crimewatch, but the gunman has not been caught.
He was jailed in 2001 for a £20m timeshare fraud in Tenerife, and at the time of his death, at the age of 65, he was due to stand trial in Spain on charges of fraud, firearm possession and money laundering.
Palmer got his Goldfinger nickname from his link to 1983’s Brink’s-Mat bullion robbery.