Prater

Frank Prater served as a British army officer throughout World War II, a commission granted by His Majesty King George VI due, in part, to his university degree, a Bachelor of Science. Major K. F. Prater married Rose Haynes, whose brothers ran a large furniture manufacturing company dating back to the early twenties. He began working for the Haynes brothers' family firm around 1946 and soon became financial director, which is where his financial escapades began. The story covers five of his several financial adventures spanning the period 1946-1975. Frank Prater was a clever man who possessed a good knowledge of the law that enabled him to pick out any law's weaknesses and ruthlessly exploit them. He was an arrogant man who would invest a few minutes assessing an adversary in order to identify weaknesses and shortcomings before using them to mercilessly crush his opponent. Any proposition that was put to Prater, when the presenter had not done his homework, was ruthlessly and publicly rejected leading that presenter in search of an alternative career or better, to ensure that he never repeated that omission. He did not doubt his ability to raise millions of pounds at any time of his choosing; indeed, that is exactly what he did. The way he set about it is the entertaining part of the story. Whilst it is accepted that he fell foul of the law, he engendered loyalty and a strange kind of love from those around him. Ironically, the independent onlooker would always find himself wishing Prater to succeed yet eagerly awaiting his inevitable downfall.