During the AIDS pandemic, a troubling subculture arose, characterised by exploitation. One woman, Ann Clague sold her HIV positive test results to fraudsters to enable them to make false claims for state benefits.

Additionally, in two separate cases Frank Riolfo arrested and sentenced for blackmailing Tesco supermarket for £275,000p in 1994 by threatening to inject food with HIV. Coincidentally in the same year, 1994 two others, Michael Norman and Alexander Taylor had also blackmailed three supermarkets with a £12m demand otherwise they would inject cooked foods with HIV which saw them arrested and before the Judge at the Old Bailey.

These cases illuminate the darker side of human behaviour during a time of crisis, as some sought to capitalise on the suffering of others for financial gain.

All articles and relevant documents from this episode are available on the:

XTRA Tea Blog - CRIME SERIES: Scammers & Blackmailers

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Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats 'A Sin' + WEBSITE

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Third-party media: Used under 'fair use' for the sole purpose of education, criticism and/or research relating to HIV/AIDS, featured in this podcast. No copyright infringement intended -

• British Newspaper Archives / Newspapers

*Judge Gloria is not a real judge, this is not a real court and none of those mentioned are on trial. The scope and purpose of this episode is to create a more immersive listening experience while sharing true stories as they were reported by the British newspapers.