THE STEAL Counterfeiting and Industrial Espionage

Hardback. The author discloses the biggest, at the time, larceny in history. The profits ran to billions for worldwide criminal networks, cynically knowing governments and entrepreneurial individuals were nearly always beyond the reach of the law. The crime is industrial and technological espionage, sophisticated, chillingly successful plunder operations that decimate the profits of a vast range of legitimate industries and incalculably enrich the fortunate few. The single most successful technological spy the world - and the grateful Soviet Union - has ever known amassed a personal fortune of $100,000,000, perfected his stable from the stud of Queen Elizabeth II and bought Prince Rainier's yacht. Prominent among the target industries, IBM spent $50,000,000 every year on the protection of its secrets but was still unable to prevent Hitachi from stealing vital details of its 3081 machine. Levi Strauss estimated an annual loss to pirates of $750,000,000 and Cartier spent almost £2,000,000 combating counterfeiters in an attempt to reduce its losses of £7,000,000. Even more serious are the constant threats to life posted by the sale of counterfeit drugs in Third World countries. The author travelled the world and worked alongside the FBI, the British department of trade and industry and the customs and police forces to produce an astonishing survey and expose of this most gluttonous of industries. With Conclusion, Sources and Index. 244pp. 8vo. h/back. Lightly browned pp. o/w Nr. F. in protected Nr. F. dw.