Judge says property mogul Robert Tchenguiz should apologise to audit firm Grant Thornton after multi-million pound case dropped
A judge today said property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz owed an apology to audit firm Grant Thornton after he dropped a multi-million pound claim against it on Monday.
Mr Justice Robin Knowles said: “In the view of this court, each claimant including Mr Robert Tchenguiz, owes each defendant an apology for this litigation. The court cannot compel that apology. But it records unequivocally that it is warranted.”
Tchenguiz said in a statement: "I am definitely not providing an apology."
Read more: Robert Tchenguiz accuses Grant Thornton of conspiracy over fraud probe
The judge said Tchenguiz had made “very serious allegations” against Grant Thornton, two of its partners – Stephen Akers and Hossein Hamedani – and former lawyer for Icelandic bank Kaupthing Johannes Runar Johannsson.
“Every defendant and every witness for the defendants leaves this court from this trial with their reputation completely intact. This includes Mr Akers, Mr Hamedani and Mr Johannsson. It also includes Grant Thornton as a firm,” the judge said.
Last week lawyers for Tchenguiz had accused the defendants of conspiring to persuade the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to launch an investigation into his business dealings with the Icelandic bank Kaupthing.
Robert Tchenguiz was arrested alongside his brother Vincent by Canada police in 2011 as part of an SFO investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing in 2008.
He dropped his claims on Monday hours before he was due to give evidence in the case after coming to a confidential settlement with Kaupthing, which he and his family trust owed over £1bn to when it collapsed.
Read more: Robert Tchenguiz drops multi-million pound action against Grant Thornton
Knowles said today: “In practice the allegations against the defendants have completely failed.”
He said the defendants “addressed all of those allegations with dignity and professionalism, and as completely as the process in this case has allowed.”
“The costs of these proceedings incurred by the defendants will, as between the claimants and the defendants, be the responsibility of the claimants, including Mr Robert Tchenguiz, and that on a basis, the indemnity basis, that is the highest basis open to this court to award against the claimants,” he said.
Tchenguiz said: “I withdrew my case, due to the commercial settlement reached with Kaupthing, and am fully satisfied with the financial element of this.
"However, I am disappointed with the Judge’s remarks in court today. He expressed personal opinions which I understand are not findings and therefore should not have been made. These comments hold no legal status and are not based on evidence which was tested in court or where a process of judicial fact finding took place. This one sided view expressed by the judge, which I do not agree with, reinforces my view that it was the right decision to settle with Kaupthing. I’ve been advised I’ve got the right to complain to the Chief Justice about these personal comments which are not judicial findings of fact."
"The court was told that the confidential agreement (which the judge has not been able to see) was the basis on which the claimants withdrew their case and the court did not find that the proceedings were without merit or that they should not have been brought. It would be wrong for any other implications to be made. There is an agreement with Kaupthing regarding costs as was referred to by Mr Stephen Rubin QC today in court so it is incorrect to say that the claimants will be paying all the costs of this action."
A spokesperson for Grant Thornton said: “Grant Thornton UK LLP, Steve Akers and Hossein Hamedani welcome Knowles J’s comments today that they and all the defendants and witnesses walk away from these serious allegations with their reputations completely intact and that in practice the allegations against all the defendants have completely failed.
"We appreciate Knowles J’s acknowledgment that Mr Akers, Mr Hamedani and Mr Johannsson, and Grant Thornton and all other defendants, faced and addressed the allegations with dignity and professionalism. We welcome and endorse Knowles J’s view that each claimant, including Mr Robert Tchenguiz, owes each defendant an apology for this litigation.”