The Academy angle is an interesting one. Sarries always argued that their cap wasn't breached due to them developing and promoting talent from their academy. But these youths were themselves probably tempted with offers similar to those made to "big name" signings. So even the players helping reduce the cap have probably been attracted by dubious means.
Moreover, did Saracens have the ability to focus on their academy so much by having a salary cap busting squad made of South Africans?
Before their academy was producing talent, they shipped on a bunch of Southern hemisphere players and started winning championships.
This brought them money, a strong fan base, a following and investment.
However, there were very strong feelings that they weren't within the cap back then.
The strength of their matchday squads allowed them to bring youth players into a winning team and build the model that they now have.
But it was probably built in cheating originally