The short version is that Vince and a certain First Lady were selling US military secrets to the Israelis. Missile launch codes, for example. Vince periodically flew to Switzerland to make deposits in the joint account he shared with a certain F.L.

One fine day Vince discovered the Swiss account had been wiped clean (about $3 million). Vince was then visited by a rather large man who showed him a printout of all his transactions, and threatened to go public with the data.

In panic, Vince then spoke the words one should never speak around powerful people with something to lose (especially to this particular First Family). "I'm not going down alone," he said.

The rest is, as they say, history.

As for the Five Horsemen, they were ex-intel computer experts who put together a Cray computer and went around tapping banks who ran a version of Promis software with a backdoor. They nailed several politicians, presented them with printouts, and suggested they "spend more time with their family."

This is, of course, hearsay, perhaps urban legend (like the Israelis in white vans). The people who could confirm all this are either not talking, or dead.