Robert Tchenguiz disputes finding that puts home at risk

Struggling tycoon Robert Tchenguiz on Tuesday put a brave face on yesterday’s legal defeat that some said could see him lose his £20 million mansion by the Royal Albert Hall.

The businessman, 57, lost a judgment in Guernsey over a negligence claim stemming from his long-running legal battles over his business empire.

He is battling a claim from receivers acting for collapsed Kaupthing bank, which lent him £1.6 billion before his empire got into financial straits amid a botched Serious Fraud Office probe.

Receiver Grant Thornton is trying to recoup funds for creditors from his Guernsey trust which holds many of his assets, including his house.

Last night’s judgment regarded an action claiming Investec Trust Guernsey had been negligent in its running of the trust which sat at the heart of his business empire in the 2000s.

GT hopes the Guernsey decision means it can now seek to sell the frescoed property. However, the wording of the judgment regarding the Tchenguiz family home is opaque, and lawyers were today poring over its implications.

Tchenguiz himself disputed that the judgment meant his house was at risk and predicted he would win a High Court case in October relating to the SFO probe.

He claimed he had engaged four prominent QCs who agreed with him that he had been the victim of criminal actions by defendants in the case including two GT partners.