The Bear,
a giant of a highlander with a broad expansive grin, is
placed in a hospital ward with computer whiz Phil Norton
and 8 others.
They have all been diagnosed as having a rare, life-threatening
illness and, unless treated, they will die. Treatment costs
£100,000 per patient and with a survival rate of only
1 in 10, they are no longer cost effective on the National
Health Service. Treatment is withdrawn.
Unwilling
to accept his fiscal fate, The Bear convinces the other
9 to scam and scheme their way out of the hole they are
in. If they can raise £1,000,000 they can all get
treated but only one should survive. The question is...can
they do it..and if so, who will survive?
Our
heroes discharge themselves, rip off a few car dealerships
for seed money, rent a highland mansion as a centre of operations
and get to work. John and The Bear put their heads together,
match their skills and contacts and hatch a plot to sell
a fake knighthood to a wealthy and deserving sucker. The
Bear provides the sucker, John provides the class and 'Ray's
Looky-Likeys' provide Her Majesty. A cheque is handed over,
a 'gong' changes hands and the group kitty is now
beginning to build up nicely.
Natalie and Katrina know where to buy cheap diamonds. Sarah
knows about the huge rate of import tax on jewellery. Gav
knows about smuggling. The opportunity cannot be ignored,
but the risks are huge.
The diamonds are bought, the smuggling goes off smoothly,
but then the spiv that's being used to fence the goods is
arrested. With nowhere to sell the diamonds and all their
assets tied up in them, the group is thrown into crisis.
It's a decisive moment for John. He knows who will buy them,
but if the deal goes ahead, then the legal practice he has
spent his life building up will be jeopardised. He must
bite the bullet and sell them. He does.
The Bear realises that there is no going back and appoints
himself literary agent to old Charlie. Charlie always thought
that he was a retired welder, but The Bear knows better.
To The Bear he is Major Charles MacKenzie of the British
Secret Service. "Charlie knows who killed Kennedy,
you know!" A biography is born. Each chapter is worth
a fortune. Charlie churns out the chapters and the money
pours in, but for one of the group it's too little too late.
As fast as he works, he won't be able to finish before time
is called on Sarah.
Another peerage can't be sold off and the diamonds are too
risky. Time is ticking on and Sarah has resigned herself
to the inevitable, when The Bear acts. Steadfast in his
belief that the good of the many is nothing without the
welfare of the one, The Bear gambles everything to cheat
time. With desperate measures that are bound to cause repercussions,
he sets out on the biggest scam of all - the bear raid.
In an "all or nothing" race to the fiscal finishing
line, he leaks a bogus financial report into the City dealing
rooms, causes pandemonium in the markets and cleans up.
Mission accomplished ! ..Treatment
is assured.
One final task remains. Whoever lives, must evade the inevitable
investigation. If a dead man can be sent down for committing
the crime then the survivor gets away SCOT
- FREE!
