> with an upper class person who we can relate to

The article does claim that other (typically upper middle class) traders often looked down on him because of his accent and education, e.g. "Hayes was on better terms with his brokers than most. They had in Hayes a kindred spirit—a state school Londoner with a cockney accent" and "Hayes, he said, seemed very 'barrow boy'—London finance slang for a low-class poseur."

Come to think of it, it would be interesting to compare the class backgrounds of those successfully prosecuted and those who got away scot-free, just to see how those in the old boy network fared.