Sidney Stanley

Sidney Stanley

Sidney Stanley ( Solomon Wulkan, 1899/1905–1969)[1] alias Solomon Koszyski,[2] alias Stanley Rechtand,[3] and alias Schlomo ben Chaim,[4] was a Polish émigré to the UK who became an unethical businessman before claiming to be a contact man who could influence politicians and civil servants in exchange for cash bribes. In 1948, his claims of being a political fixer led to a great scandal and an investigation of public corruption by the Lynskey tribunal.

Moreover, Stanley spied against the UK on behalf of the Irgun, a Zionist paramilitary organisation. The British government ordered Stanley to be deported, but he had lost his Polish nationality and so Stanley was a stateless person, and afterwards was placed under heavy legal restrictions and police surveillance. In 1949, he evaded police and fled to France and thence to Israel, where the government granted Stanley citizenship through right-of-return, and lived the remainder of his life in relative obscurity.

  1. ^ Wade Baron (1966) "Stanley was 43 at the time of the tribunal (p. 63); "Stanley was 14 y.o. in 1913" (pp. 136–137)
  2. ^ Wade Baron (1966) p.161
  3. ^ Wade Baron (1966) p.136
  4. ^ Wade Baron (1966) p.246