<
p>Lloyds Bank has said that it plans to take control of the property portfolio belonging to one of the country’s most prolific fraudsters after an agreement could not be reached over £230 million worth of outstanding debt, the Telegraph reports.
Vincent Tchenguiz has been granted a week to file his objections to a plan by Lloyds Bank to take control of a large residential portfolio of properties, believed to be worth £300 million.
Earlier this week, the part taxpayer-owned bank asked the High Court to approve the appointment of KPMG as administrator to number of companies that own about 50,000 residential property freeholds under Mr Tchenguiz’s name.
Lloyds has claimed that Mr Tchenguiz has repeatedly failed to make interest repayments or achieve the sale of the properties, which were secured with a large loan from the High Street bank.
Representing a fifth of the magnate’s 250,000-strong empire, the portfolio was also used as collateral for the £100 million loan provided by Kaupthing, which proved to form the centre of the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO’s) investigation into Mr Tchenguiz and his brother, Robert.
A successful application would deal significant damage to the property tycoon’s claim to pursue a now famous legal battle with the SFO over £100 million of damages.
Mr Tchenguiz maintains that the body’s investigation lead to eight figures worth of harm being wrought on his business interests.
The SFO conceded last year that it had made a number of errors in the way in which it had interpreted evidence later used to obtain search warrants for the Tchenguiz brothers’ homes and offices.
Lawyers arguing on Vincent’s behalf said in a hearing last week that there were connections between this harm and the difficulties found with refinancing his property portfolio, adding that more time would be needed to determine why Lloyds was calling a loan that had been in arrears since 2009.
The news comes alongside a claim by Mr Tchenguiz’s lawyers that HBOS, now owned by Lloyds, could have rigged Libor in an attempt to block the move to repossess his property empire.
In a statement on Mr Tchenguiz’s behalf, Rich Eldrige, Partner at law firm Manches, said: “If Bank of Scotland knew Libor was being manipulated, it may be the case that it should have warned Mr Tchenguiz.”
Responding to the allegations, a statement from Lloyds read: “As the matter is subject to ongoing legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment in any detail other than to say that the allegations raised by the claimant are refuted by the group.”
Lloyds Bank has said that it plans to take control of the property portfolio belonging to one of the country's most prolific fraudsters, after an agreement could not be reached over £230 million.
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