Emil Savundra
Encyclopedia
Emil Savundra, born Michael Marion Emil Anacletus Pierre Savundranayagam (6 July 1923 – 21 December 1976) was an indigenous Tamil businessman from Ceylon
(known as Sri Lanka from 1972) who later took British
citizenship. He is known for having perpetrated financial frauds in several countries, culminating in the scandal of the Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company. Savundra twice served jail sentences for his frauds. Savundra claimed to have been awarded two doctorates as 'Dr Emil Savundra PhD DCL' although one investigation noted that the Avatar University he claimed had awarded them was no longer in existence and associated with the Greek Orthodox Church
which does not give degrees.
, he grew up with a mixture of respect for and resentment of Britain typical of many educated colonials. He served for a brief period with a commission in the Ceylon Engineers but was refused entry into the Royal Air Force
during the Second World War although he held a pilot's licence. He married a young woman - renowned for her beauty - from a well-educated and hard-working Tamil family who stayed loyal to him in what was to be a thirty-year ordeal. When India
and Ceylon were granted independence in 1947, Savundra tried to develop a business career on the island at age 23. At about this time he developed insulin-dependent diabetes that would shorten his life. During this period of time, he was used as a local intermediary in an economic sabotage of a shipload of oil that he appeared to be selling to China but which his American contacts had ensured did not exist. This was in the context of the ongoing Korean War
. Having used this device to support the US war effort, he went on to repeat the process. In 1954, at the age of 31, he came to the attention of the Belgian authorities, accused of swindling the Kredietbank
of Antwerp over a non-existent cargo of rice. He served a sentence in prison in Belgium. In 1958, he resurfaced as a middle man for a company called Camp Bird in Ghana
, representing this American company with mineral interests in the country. He was involved in bribes at the highest level of government and claimed in his diaries that this was the typical business practice in Ghana in the 1950s. It is notable that he did not face trial but was deported from Ghana, presumably because a trial would have led to local embarrassment. But he had developed a career of sharp practice characteristic of a post-war black marketeer and went on with a fraud at the expense of the Costa Rican government in 1959, based on coffee beans
. The only record of any offence in Ceylon was a failure to pay an inland revenue bill based on the earnings of some of the economic frauds, but it was because of this that he did not return to the island between 1951 and 1965, when he returned finally at the age of 42.
. He lived a lavish high-profile lifestyle before FAM eventually collapsed due to failure of cash flow and subsequent exposure by the Sunday Times Insight Team of the lack of proper securities. This lavish lifestyle had included racing powerboats including in the Daily Express
Cowes-to-Torquay powerboat race where he mixed with rich and powerful figures of the time, who were unsure what to make of Savundra - a character from the Far East. There are many photographs of him posing with such figures. In his first race he fractured his spine and was referred by one of his high society friends to an osteopath called Stephen Ward
. This is when he became involved with Christine Keeler
and Mandy Rice-Davies
and Savundra is referred to at Stephen Ward's trial as 'the Indian doctor'. Because the scandal centered around the Minister of War, women-escorts, the Russian defence attache, a famous actress, a senior member of the House of Lords and so many other society figures, Savundra did not come to great attention although Keeler and Rice-Davies have published their accounts including Savundra in their autobiographies and this may be when Private Eye
began to notice Savundra's activities in London, which arguably was the beginning of his downfall. It is perhaps notable that Savundra's eventual nemesis, the renowned interviewer David Frost
, posed in a photograph in the classic Christine Keeler shot for the BBC's
That Was The Week That Was
, both photographs having been taken by Lewis Morley
.
Savundra was one of the first controversial businessmen to use UK libel
law to try to prevent publications like Private Eye from publishing damning allegations about his life and his business practices. At his trial in 1968, witnesses confirmed to have seen documents that he had presented demonstrating that he had securities worth £540,000 and ownership of £870,000 of 'blue-chip' shares underpinning FAM. No such securities were available when the company failed. In any event, once the company was known to be failing, it still continued to trade and issue cover notes but only part of the premiums were being submitted by the insurance brokers who were becoming aware of difficulties and some of whom themselves began to act fraudulently. Fire, Auto and Marine was one of a number of insurance companies that failed in that period of time but was most notable by being the first failure and by Savundra being possibly being the most noticeably garish Asian in Britain in 1962. However, Vehicle & General laid the claim to being the biggest of the six insurance companies that failed in the 1960s and early 1970s. True or not, the belief that FAM was deliberately failing to meet its obligations to its customers grew. The Sunday Times Insight team investigated Savundra's affairs and reported that his "reserves" in stocks worth nearly a million were forgeries. Commentators in his defence have asserted that Savundra was taking on high-risk clients and was not sufficiently sophisticated to realise that he should have been allocating far more resources to deal with the inevitable claims that these clients would generate, while overlooking his track record in fraudulent trading. It was claimed that Savundra was transferring FAM assets to a bank in Liechtenstein
, an "offshore" institution beyond British control, allowing much greater secrecy. In the end no such funds were ever found. In May 1966, the 42 year-old Savundra - suffering from a long history insulin-dependent diabetes - suffered a heart attack and he sold his FAM shares to his directors at FAM. The company, led by Stuart de Quincey Walker, collapsed within days, leaving its clients uninsured in fact as well as in practice. It is estimated that 400,000 motorist
s were affected. Savundra was pursued by the media who besieged his mansion in Hampstead for days. He fled to Ceylon where he was supported by his wife's family. The Ceylon government refused to grant the now-British Savundra asylum in Ceylon, where he was causing embarrassment with reporters all over the island. In December, he returned to Europe and was in Rome for a month, still pursued by the British newspapers. In January 1967, he returned to England. By now, at age 44, he was dependent on insulin and also a pethidine
drug-addict for his back pain and his angina.
on the Rediffusion London show The Frost Programme (made for ITV
) - a seminal and ground-breaking interview-based chat show
with Savundra as its first notable "victim". The background to this was that on the previous week, David Frost announced he was going to include the story of the FAM debacle and Savundra in his next programme.
Savundra's ego was inflated enough for him to initiate contact with the David Frost production team because he believed that he would be able to exonerate himself on television given a suitable audience. Whether this was a flaw in his character or a reflection of his use of pethidine is not clear. Certainly he injected before he went on the show and throughout the recording appeared to be excessively calm despite the level of accusation and disdain by David Frost.
Savundra appeared secure and confident in his ability to defend his conduct, as well as anticipating no problems in handling Frost's questioning. Whatever the previous arrangements were with the production team, it was clear he was not ready for the hostile heckling studio audience being led by David Frost. He seemed to expect an opportunity to lecture on the finer points of the law and to debate with Frost. He referred to Frost as being the 'finest swordsman in England', and also referred to the audience - which included some of his clients and victims of the insurance company failure - as "peasants", and claimed to have "no moral responsibility" for what had happened. Frost had obviously anticipated Savundra showing contrition and remorse before his victims and not defiance.
Savundra's attitude towards these clients who were present in the audience provoked Frost into confronting Savundra over his conduct. The programme ended with shouts from the audience of "Well done, Frostie!". Frost finished the show without its usual sign-off and he spoke to the wrong camera before walking off the set, this being attributed to his anger. The episode was quickly dubbed "trial by television" and caused serious misgivings in the corridors of power in the television world and beyond, causing Rediffusion senior management to be ultra-cautious in future. It was felt that the television treatment of Savundra by Frost severely compromised Savundra's right to a fair trial in a British criminal court. However, the programme created the reputation of Frost as a vigorous interviewer in the UK and may have helped develop his career in the USA
- culminating in his famous interview with a post-Watergate
Richard Nixon
in 1977, where again he was underestimated. It also opened the door to a more aggressive style of television interview with politicians and other famous people, as typified by Robin Day
and continuing with Jeremy Paxman
.
. This was cited to his attitude and lack of contrition, although others as well as himself attributed this to what is now referred to as "institutional racism
". The trial was very long and antagonistic between the defendant and the barristers. The judge, Alan King-Hamilton
, mentioned Savundra in his autobiography in the context of a fantasy dinner party. Savundra was eventually placed in the prison hospital where he became addicted to drugs to control persistent heart disease pain. Savundra was released from prison just before Christmas in 1974, by which time he was living in a drug-induced world of fantasy. He died in Windsor, England, aged 53 in 1976. His diabetes, the harsh conditions he experienced in prison and his drug use doubtless contributed to his early death. Savundra perceived himself as a devout Roman Catholic, and there are records of donations and benign works, despite a life of malpractice. His wife who had lived through a thirty-year ordeal died a few years later aged 57.
Both Savundra and his wife are buried in Windsor cemetery.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
(known as Sri Lanka from 1972) who later took British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
citizenship. He is known for having perpetrated financial frauds in several countries, culminating in the scandal of the Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company. Savundra twice served jail sentences for his frauds. Savundra claimed to have been awarded two doctorates as 'Dr Emil Savundra PhD DCL' although one investigation noted that the Avatar University he claimed had awarded them was no longer in existence and associated with the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
which does not give degrees.
Early life and career
Born into a legal family in Ceylon during the period of the British RajBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, he grew up with a mixture of respect for and resentment of Britain typical of many educated colonials. He served for a brief period with a commission in the Ceylon Engineers but was refused entry into the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during the Second World War although he held a pilot's licence. He married a young woman - renowned for her beauty - from a well-educated and hard-working Tamil family who stayed loyal to him in what was to be a thirty-year ordeal. When India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Ceylon were granted independence in 1947, Savundra tried to develop a business career on the island at age 23. At about this time he developed insulin-dependent diabetes that would shorten his life. During this period of time, he was used as a local intermediary in an economic sabotage of a shipload of oil that he appeared to be selling to China but which his American contacts had ensured did not exist. This was in the context of the ongoing Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Having used this device to support the US war effort, he went on to repeat the process. In 1954, at the age of 31, he came to the attention of the Belgian authorities, accused of swindling the Kredietbank
KBC Bank
KBC Bank N.V. is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises. Besides retail banking, insurance and asset management activities , KBC is active in European debt capital markets, domestic cash equity markets and in the field of corporate...
of Antwerp over a non-existent cargo of rice. He served a sentence in prison in Belgium. In 1958, he resurfaced as a middle man for a company called Camp Bird in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, representing this American company with mineral interests in the country. He was involved in bribes at the highest level of government and claimed in his diaries that this was the typical business practice in Ghana in the 1950s. It is notable that he did not face trial but was deported from Ghana, presumably because a trial would have led to local embarrassment. But he had developed a career of sharp practice characteristic of a post-war black marketeer and went on with a fraud at the expense of the Costa Rican government in 1959, based on coffee beans
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
. The only record of any offence in Ceylon was a failure to pay an inland revenue bill based on the earnings of some of the economic frauds, but it was because of this that he did not return to the island between 1951 and 1965, when he returned finally at the age of 42.
Fire, Auto and Marine
By the early 1960s, Savundra had settled in the United Kingdom; he was granted British nationality on 10 February 1960. Here he perpetrated the fraud for which he was convicted in 1968. In 1963, he had formed the Fire, Auto & Marine Insurance Company (FAM), which exploited the thriving motor insurance industry - at a time when car ownership in the UK was increasing and road networks were being further developed - by offering very attractive insurance rates and by a revolutionary but by modern standards rather crude computerisation by a collaboration with IBMIBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. He lived a lavish high-profile lifestyle before FAM eventually collapsed due to failure of cash flow and subsequent exposure by the Sunday Times Insight Team of the lack of proper securities. This lavish lifestyle had included racing powerboats including in the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
Cowes-to-Torquay powerboat race where he mixed with rich and powerful figures of the time, who were unsure what to make of Savundra - a character from the Far East. There are many photographs of him posing with such figures. In his first race he fractured his spine and was referred by one of his high society friends to an osteopath called Stephen Ward
Stephen Ward
Stephen Thomas Ward was an osteopath and artist who became notorious as one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British public scandal which profoundly affected the ruling Conservative Party government...
. This is when he became involved with Christine Keeler
Christine Keeler
Christine Margaret Keeler is an English former model and showgirl. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963, in what is known as the Profumo Affair....
and Mandy Rice-Davies
Mandy Rice-Davies
Mandy Rice-Davies , is a Welsh former model and showgirl best known for her role in the Profumo affair and her association with Christine Keeler, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963.-Early life:She was born Marilyn Rice-Davies in...
and Savundra is referred to at Stephen Ward's trial as 'the Indian doctor'. Because the scandal centered around the Minister of War, women-escorts, the Russian defence attache, a famous actress, a senior member of the House of Lords and so many other society figures, Savundra did not come to great attention although Keeler and Rice-Davies have published their accounts including Savundra in their autobiographies and this may be when Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
began to notice Savundra's activities in London, which arguably was the beginning of his downfall. It is perhaps notable that Savundra's eventual nemesis, the renowned interviewer David Frost
David Frost
Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
, posed in a photograph in the classic Christine Keeler shot for the BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
, both photographs having been taken by Lewis Morley
Lewis Morley
Lewis Morley, born in Hong Kong, 1925, to English and Chinese parents, is a photographer. He was interned in Stanley Internment Camp during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945, when he was released and went to the United Kingdom with his family. He studied at Twickenham Art...
.
Savundra was one of the first controversial businessmen to use UK libel
Slander and libel
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander , and libel —is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image...
law to try to prevent publications like Private Eye from publishing damning allegations about his life and his business practices. At his trial in 1968, witnesses confirmed to have seen documents that he had presented demonstrating that he had securities worth £540,000 and ownership of £870,000 of 'blue-chip' shares underpinning FAM. No such securities were available when the company failed. In any event, once the company was known to be failing, it still continued to trade and issue cover notes but only part of the premiums were being submitted by the insurance brokers who were becoming aware of difficulties and some of whom themselves began to act fraudulently. Fire, Auto and Marine was one of a number of insurance companies that failed in that period of time but was most notable by being the first failure and by Savundra being possibly being the most noticeably garish Asian in Britain in 1962. However, Vehicle & General laid the claim to being the biggest of the six insurance companies that failed in the 1960s and early 1970s. True or not, the belief that FAM was deliberately failing to meet its obligations to its customers grew. The Sunday Times Insight team investigated Savundra's affairs and reported that his "reserves" in stocks worth nearly a million were forgeries. Commentators in his defence have asserted that Savundra was taking on high-risk clients and was not sufficiently sophisticated to realise that he should have been allocating far more resources to deal with the inevitable claims that these clients would generate, while overlooking his track record in fraudulent trading. It was claimed that Savundra was transferring FAM assets to a bank in Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
, an "offshore" institution beyond British control, allowing much greater secrecy. In the end no such funds were ever found. In May 1966, the 42 year-old Savundra - suffering from a long history insulin-dependent diabetes - suffered a heart attack and he sold his FAM shares to his directors at FAM. The company, led by Stuart de Quincey Walker, collapsed within days, leaving its clients uninsured in fact as well as in practice. It is estimated that 400,000 motorist
Driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, such as a car, truck or bus.Although direct operation of a bicycle and a mounted animal are commonly referred to as riding, such operators are legally considered drivers and are required to obey the rules of the road...
s were affected. Savundra was pursued by the media who besieged his mansion in Hampstead for days. He fled to Ceylon where he was supported by his wife's family. The Ceylon government refused to grant the now-British Savundra asylum in Ceylon, where he was causing embarrassment with reporters all over the island. In December, he returned to Europe and was in Rome for a month, still pursued by the British newspapers. In January 1967, he returned to England. By now, at age 44, he was dependent on insulin and also a pethidine
Pethidine
Pethidine or meperidine Pethidine (INN) or meperidine (USAN) Pethidine (INN) or meperidine (USAN) (commonly referred to as Demerol but also referred to as: isonipecaine; lidol; pethanol; piridosal; Algil; Alodan; Centralgin; Dispadol; Dolantin; Mialgin (in Indonesia); Petidin Dolargan (in Poland);...
drug-addict for his back pain and his angina.
Frost Programme controversy
The fraudulent nature of Savundra's business affairs once again burst into public prominence in 1967 as a result of a television interview by David FrostDavid Frost (broadcaster)
Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE is a British journalist, comedian, writer, media personality and daytime TV game show host best known for his two decades as host of Through the Keyhole and serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon...
on the Rediffusion London show The Frost Programme (made for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
) - a seminal and ground-breaking interview-based chat show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
with Savundra as its first notable "victim". The background to this was that on the previous week, David Frost announced he was going to include the story of the FAM debacle and Savundra in his next programme.
Savundra's ego was inflated enough for him to initiate contact with the David Frost production team because he believed that he would be able to exonerate himself on television given a suitable audience. Whether this was a flaw in his character or a reflection of his use of pethidine is not clear. Certainly he injected before he went on the show and throughout the recording appeared to be excessively calm despite the level of accusation and disdain by David Frost.
Savundra appeared secure and confident in his ability to defend his conduct, as well as anticipating no problems in handling Frost's questioning. Whatever the previous arrangements were with the production team, it was clear he was not ready for the hostile heckling studio audience being led by David Frost. He seemed to expect an opportunity to lecture on the finer points of the law and to debate with Frost. He referred to Frost as being the 'finest swordsman in England', and also referred to the audience - which included some of his clients and victims of the insurance company failure - as "peasants", and claimed to have "no moral responsibility" for what had happened. Frost had obviously anticipated Savundra showing contrition and remorse before his victims and not defiance.
Savundra's attitude towards these clients who were present in the audience provoked Frost into confronting Savundra over his conduct. The programme ended with shouts from the audience of "Well done, Frostie!". Frost finished the show without its usual sign-off and he spoke to the wrong camera before walking off the set, this being attributed to his anger. The episode was quickly dubbed "trial by television" and caused serious misgivings in the corridors of power in the television world and beyond, causing Rediffusion senior management to be ultra-cautious in future. It was felt that the television treatment of Savundra by Frost severely compromised Savundra's right to a fair trial in a British criminal court. However, the programme created the reputation of Frost as a vigorous interviewer in the UK and may have helped develop his career in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- culminating in his famous interview with a post-Watergate
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
in 1977, where again he was underestimated. It also opened the door to a more aggressive style of television interview with politicians and other famous people, as typified by Robin Day
Robin Day
Sir Robin Day, OBE was a British political broadcaster and commentator. His obituary in the Guardian stated that "he was the most outstanding television journalist of his generation...
and continuing with Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians...
.
Imprisonment
Savundra was arrested not long after his appearance on The Frost Programme. The police had been undertaking investigation for two years and an arrest would probably have occurred whether he had appeared on television or not. The case had been in the newspapers for a long time. In March 1968, he was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment with a fine of £50,000 or a further two years. Savundra had been bankrupt for three years already and therefore served two thirds of a ten year sentence. Savundra was condemned to a harsher prison regimen than one which would usually result from fraud crimes, instead of being sent to an open prisonOpen prison
An open prison is an informal description applied to any penal establishment in which the prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and so do not need to be locked up in prison cells...
. This was cited to his attitude and lack of contrition, although others as well as himself attributed this to what is now referred to as "institutional racism
Institutional racism
Institutional racism describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations , and universities . The term was coined by Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael in the late 1960s...
". The trial was very long and antagonistic between the defendant and the barristers. The judge, Alan King-Hamilton
Alan King-Hamilton
Myer Alan Barry King-Hamilton QC was a British barrister and judge who was best known for hearing numerous high-profile cases at the Old Bailey during the 1960s and 1970s...
, mentioned Savundra in his autobiography in the context of a fantasy dinner party. Savundra was eventually placed in the prison hospital where he became addicted to drugs to control persistent heart disease pain. Savundra was released from prison just before Christmas in 1974, by which time he was living in a drug-induced world of fantasy. He died in Windsor, England, aged 53 in 1976. His diabetes, the harsh conditions he experienced in prison and his drug use doubtless contributed to his early death. Savundra perceived himself as a devout Roman Catholic, and there are records of donations and benign works, despite a life of malpractice. His wife who had lived through a thirty-year ordeal died a few years later aged 57.
Both Savundra and his wife are buried in Windsor cemetery.