Residents and the management company of Albert Court, SW7, a prestigious Victorian mansion block next to the Royal Albert Hall, have won a High Court injunction stopping two of its residents from harassing and intimidating staff and neighbours.
High Court judge Sarah Richardson granted the injunction earlier this week against Marcel Fetaimia and his wife Victoria who, according to the judgment, claims to be the “star” of a reality TV show called Living With the Russians.
According to the ruling the couple, in particular Mrs Fetaimia, have been repeatedly harassing and intimidating members of the management company and neighbours, alleging that directors and employees of the company are involved in fraud, bribery and theft and have siphoned off millions of pounds from the accounts.
In her ruling the judge said that there “is not one piece of evidence to support the defendants’ allegations of fraud, bribery and theft”.
The judge made some “general observations” about the couple, based on the evidence in the case and her observations of them.
“They are both proud individuals,” she said. “Mrs Fetaimia accepted that it is very important to her what others think of her. They both take great pride in living in a building which is regarded as being prestigious and which has prominent and wealthy people living in it.
“Mr Fetaimia emphasised in evidence that his wife has many friends in the building and that she was the ‘star’ of a reality show called Living With the Russians. In my assessment both Mr Fetaimia and Mrs Fetaimia are likely to take very personally any comments which may be interpreted as being capable of reducing their standing in the eyes of those who matter to them (this includes other residents of Albert Court).”
The 70-page ruling details a seven-day court hearing in which the defendants, representing themselves, cross-examined increasingly exasperated residents including Labour peer and Bupa chairman Lord Leith.
At one point in the case the judge suspected that the defendants had been recording the proceedings. When asked, Marcel Fetaimia said he had “accidentally” recorded “part of the hearing”.
The judge confiscated their phones and sent them to the police.
“The matter of whether recordings were or were not made by the defendants of [an earlier hearing] and this tribunal are now the subject matter of a police investigation and potentially committal proceedings,” the judge said in her ruling.
Separate to this case, according to the ruling, the British Virgin Islands company that owns the Fetaimia’s apartment is involved in liquidation litigation in the BVI. That company is owned, the ruling said, by Victoria Fetaimia. It is possible, the judge said, that they could lose their property.
The judge dismissed all of the couple’s allegations and found that the couple used threats and harassment.
“The use of threats towards others is a modus operandi of Mr Fetaimia (and for that matter Mrs Fetaimia),” the judge said.
“It is particularly unedifying that Mr and Mrs Fetaimia, who have expressed the fear of losing their home, have been prepared to utilise threats of this nature against others.”
And on the balance of probabilities, the judge said, Victoria Fetaimia made death threats against one of the directors of the management company.
“I am more than satisfied that the defendants knew that their actions amounted to harassment,” the judge said.
“But for completeness if they did not know, then they ought to have known… on the basis of my findings of fact no reasonable person would think otherwise.”
The injunction bars the couple from threatening or harassing neighbours and members of the management company, and stipulates that any allegations the wish to make should be in writing to the property management company’s solicitors.
A penthouse in the building is currently being marketed by Savills for £11,000,000. The brochure describes Albert Court as a “hugely sought-after mansion block with round-the-clock security and concierge”.
(1) Albert Court (Westminster) Management Company Ltd (in a Representative Capacity for and on Behalf of Its Officers, Employees and Contractors) (2) Graeme Phillip Aarons (on Behalf of Himself and in a Representative Capacity for and on Behalf of the Officers, Employees and Contractors of Albert Court (Westminster) Management Company Ltd) (3) Kerry Michael Rubie (4) Timothy Douglas Murray (5) Soussi Zarifeh Kerman (6) Timothy Ian Greenwood v (1) Marcel Nasser Fetaimia (2) Victoria Fetaimia
QBD (JJH Sarah Richardson) 27 June 2022
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