Russ (Episode 9006)

Russ was a crooked associate of the equally-crooked Pat Phelan and Vinny Ashford who arranged to sell them false passports in order that they could make their escape out of the country when they had succeeded in their scam of selling non-existent flats from conversion work supposedly being done at the Carter Warehouse. Vinny met Russ, direct from a court hearing at which he'd been found innocent, in the car park of the Twilight Casino to hand over the money and receive two forged documents: Phelan would become Alan Frost and Vinny would henceforth be known as Gordon Reeves. Vinny didn't like the idea of becoming "Gordon" and Russ was extolling the name being used by several famous people when Phelan arrived in his car with Eileen Grimshaw. She didn't trust Vinny one inch and when she heard that he had ordered a Street Cars taxi to take him to the casino instead of the flats which he had said was his intended destination, she followed him there. Phelan rushed to be with her, but not before he'd texted ahead and warned Vinny. A story had therefore been prepared and "Mr Russell" was presented to Eileen as the potential buyer of Flat 8 in the complex. She was forced to make an abashed apology for her behaviour as Russ played along with the ruse.