Crispin Odey accused of ‘trying to manipulate’ a woman he assaulted
Crispin Odey has been accused of “trying to manipulate” a woman into silence, after the financial regulator alleged that the disgraced financier tried to discourage her from giving a full account of her experience with him.
In text messages shown in court sent to a woman, Odey said: “Really sorry… the FCA is pursuing a vendetta against both OAM and myself and you are being used by them to show that there were no controls and you were in fear of my position in the company, which stopped you from speaking out. I’m truly sorry for embarrassing you so long ago but I do not think that it is reason enough to close down OAM and call me unfit and improper, they may want to call you.”
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) barrister Clare Sibson KC asked Odey, who was on the stand: “Are you trying to manipulate this woman into silence?” Odey denied the allegation.
On the message, the FCA barrister added: “Do you think that the victim of a sexual assault wants to hear that?”
Sibson KC told the court that Odey had a “very good reason” to discourage her, but Odey insisted he was just alerting her that the FCA might be in touch with her.
The FCA barrister went on to tell the court that the woman had been interviewed by law firm Simmons & Simmons about an “assault” in which Odey had groped her breasts. “As you well know, she screamed on her account of the assault,” the barrister said to Odey.
On Tuesday Odey admitted to groping his PA’s breasts following an appointment at the dentist, which he blamed on the sedation he received during his appointment.
Today, Sibson KC also told the court that part of the evidence was that she said OAM had “a culture of fairly deliberate sexual harassment, which was part of the deal of working in a place like [the firm]”.
Odey said: “This was a very serious incident, but it was looked at, and it was judged, and she stayed for another eight years.”
Odey accused former CEO of exploiting his disciplinary position
Odey also suggested that Tim Pearey, the former Odey Aseet Managed (OAM) chief executive who resigned in 2022, was exploiting his disciplinary position with the City watchdog to “advance his own self‑interest”.
The disgraced financier said he became convinced Pearey felt his only option to remain in the Authority’s “good graces” was to have Odey dismissed.
In his witness statement, Odey said Pearey’s attitude changed once the Simmons & Simmons investigation began, believing [Pearey] “began to sing from the same hymn-sheet as the [Financial Conduct] Authority”.
Odey used his wife’s German idiom “Jemandem Honig um den Mund schmieren”, referring to smearing honey around someone’s mouth, to describe Pearey to the court.
When Pearey resigned in 2022, he was later placed on gardening leave by the executive council, according to Odey’s witness statement, because his presence in the office was deemed “not helpful”.
When asked by the the court whether Pearey had great integrity, Odey replied, “No”.
Earlier in the trial, it was revealed that Pearey, when on the stand, called Odey a “sex pest” and a “sociopath” to the authority.
Odey: ‘I didn’t have many weapons, did I?’
Sibson repeatedly challenged the idea that Odey “had no other option but to close” the firm.
“You chose to use the threat to cause closure of the firm as a weapon, didn’t you?” the barrister said.
Odey told the court he saw himself as an owner under unfair attack, with a strong sense of injustice, pointing out that he owned 98.5 per cent of the firm. He added that any attempt to sue for unfair treatment would have effectively seen him “suing myself.”
It was revealed in court that in an interview, when asked why he threatened to close OAM, Odey told the FCA: “I didn’t have many weapons, did I?”
Odey continues on the stand until Thursday.
This article has been edited to remove the initials of the women.