Career
He has been described as "a working-class East Ender with a taste for fine restaurants and flashy clothes."
Silver"s rise to prominence began with the absorption of the remants of the Messina Brothers prostitution operation into what came to be known as "The Syndicate", a criminal organization headed principally by Silver and "Big Frank" Mifsud. During the heyday of the Syndicate (1967–1972), most of the Metropolitan Police Obscene Publications Squad were in its pay, including the squad"s head, Detective Chief Superintendent Bill Moody. Silver"s influence began to wane as the 1970s wore on, a decline prompted by major investigations into police corruption that by the end of 1972 had led to the resignation of eighty detectives.
Silver himself was convicted in 1975 of the murder of Tommy "Scarface" Smithson, but later cleared on appeal.
The film character Lew Vogel in the film The Bank Job is based on Bernie Silver.