到了1994年12月，88888号账户上的亏损总共高达5.12亿英磅。心情越来越慌乱的里森赌定东京证券交易所指数不会跌落到19000点之下。但在1995年1月17日，日本神户发生了一场7.2级的大地震。之前稳定的东京证券交易所指数在一个星期内就下跌了7%。随着损失的加大，里森需要有额外的资金来继续交易，他希望通过更多交易造成的混乱来脱身。3个季度内，他的交易导致巴林银行损失13亿英磅。而当巴林银行的官员发现这一切时，他们通知英格兰银行：巴林彻底破产了。

    Two days before his 28th birthday Nicholas William Lesson went missing from Singapore, on hisdesk he left a hurriedly scribbled note saying "I'm Sorry." The couple went on the run. The world'smost wanted man, on the cover of every newspaper, checked in on his flight to Europe usinghis own name and hiding beneath a baseball cap. The German authorities were alerted and thepolice were there to greet Leeson as he touched down.

    尼古拉斯·威廉·里森在他28岁生日的前两天从新加坡失踪了 ......