Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz arrested in Iceland probe Skip to main content

Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz arrested in Iceland probe

Vincent Tchenguiz Vincent Tchenguiz is one of London's most high profile business people
Property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz have been arrested as part of an investigation into the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing.
Their offices in central London were raided this morning as part of an operation in which seven other men in the UK and Iceland were also arrested.
The brothers said in a statement that they were "co-operating fully" and were confident they would be cleared.
Robert Tchenguiz borrowed £1.25bn from the failed bank to finance deals.
He used the funds, borrowed months before the collapse, to buy stakes in companies including Sainsbury's and pubs company Mitchells and Butlers.
Robert Tchenguiz also owned a stake in Kaupthing.
A spokesman for the Tchenguiz brothers said that they were released later on Wednesday evening and no restrictions had been placed on their ability to travel.
Funds search During the course of the operation in London, which involved 135 police officers and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigators, seven men aged between 42 and 54 were arrested and taken to police stations for interview.
Two men aged 42 and 43 were also arrested in Reykjavik, the SFO said.
The Serious Fraud Office has been working with Icelandic authorities for more than a year, looking at why substantial funds flooded out of the bank in the days before it failed.

Start Quote

The relationship between Robert Tchenguiz and Kaupthing was deep and close.”
End Quote
The SFO also said when it launched the investigation that it would study whether the bank had misled savers to try to encourage deposits into its high-interest Kaupthing Edge accounts in the UK.
Kaupthing, once Iceland's biggest bank, collapsed along with the bulk of Icelandic banks during the height of the banking crisis in 2008.
'Co-operating' The Tchenguiz brothers released a joint statement confirming their arrest and said they were confident of being "cleared of any allegation of wrong-doing".
They said: "We were arrested earlier this morning and are being questioned with regard to matters relating to our relationship with Kaupthing Bank.
"Both of us are co-operating fully with the investigation and are confident that, once concluded, we will be cleared of any allegation of wrongdoing," the said.
Last year. an official Icelandic report into the country's financial crisis criticised the extent of Kaupthing's loans to Robert Tchenguiz and companies. "Rules on large exposures were not followed," the report said.
The brothers, through family trusts, have issued a writ against Kaupthing claiming £1.8bn for fraudulent misrepresentation.
The writ, first issued in Iceland last year, alleges that the trusts were duped into loan and collateral agreements because the bank failed to disclose the true state of its finances.
The Tchenguiz brothers are known as much for their socialising as their business deals.
Robert Tchenguiz dated the model Caprice, while Vincent has often spoken of his high-rolling in casinos and how he won £1m gambling on the outcome of the Euro 2004 football tournament.
The brothers and their homes and yachts have regularly featured in magazines and newspapers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12688072

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do

Is 160 enough? One Indian man's family

By Sumnima Udas , CNN October 31, 2011 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT) Ziona, center, with his has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren in rural Baktwang village, India. STORY HIGHLIGHTS One man in India is the patriarch of a family of 160 in rural India Ziona, who only goes by his first name, has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren. Ziona's father, Chana, founded the Christian sect in Baktwang that promotes polygamy "I never wanted to get married but that's the path God has chosen for me" Mizoram, India (CNN) -- The world's population hits 7 billion this week, but Ziona, the patriarch of what may be the biggest family in the world, is not bothered. "I don't care about overpopulation in India ... I believe God has chosen us to be like this (have big families). Those who are born into this family don't want to leave this tradition so we just keep growing and growing," he says with a smile. Ziona, who only goes by his f