A pair of businessmen who have been attempting to sue Luxembourg-based real estate company CPI Property Group and its billionaire major shareholder Radovan Vitek say they plan to take their legal battle to London.
CPIPG is a family-owned real estate company founded in the Czech Republic that owns a portfolio worth more than €20bn (£17.3bn) focused on office space in Prague, Berlin, Warsaw and across Central and Eastern Europe.
The company is currently being sued by businessmen Marek Čmejla and Jiří Diviš, who both originate from the Czech Republic and have been in dispute with Vitek and CPIPG for a number of years.
According to CPIPG’s 2022 management report, the pair, who claim to be former business associates of Vitek, issued a claim for €535m against CPIPG and Vitek in January and also obtained a temporary injunction from a court in Cyprus freezing the same amount.
Now, they say that if the injunction isn’t successfully appealed, they plan to get it recognised by the High Court in London.
“We will not rest until justice is served,” Diviš said in an emailed statement.
“Assuming the Cyprus injunction remains in place, we will ask the English courts to enforce it – Mr Vitek should not be able to avoid his responsibilities to his former partner investors no matter where in the world his assets lie,” the statement said.
Vitek is understood to have various property assets in the UK, including a mansion in Surrey formerly owned by Beatle Ringo Starr and a mansion in Hampstead on The Bishops Avenue, sometimes referred to as “Billionaire’s Row”.
According to the management report, Čmejla and Diviš have previously made allegations under the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act that were dismissed by a US court and have also been convicted for fraud and money laundering in Switzerland.
Lawyers representing Čmejla and Diviš said in a statement that despite the conviction they were given “two moderate sentences of probation”.
The pair are “convinced of their innocence” and are seeking to have the case reopened in Switzerland based on new evidence.
In addition, the statement said, they are no longer “active in business” and are instead “focused on recouping their investments from Mr Vitek”.
In an e-mailed statement, CPIPG said it “disputes and is vehemently challenging the interim injunction in its entirety, including on grounds of jurisdiction, service and overall merits as well as its effects”.
“The interim injunction is undoubtedly provisional and was issued prior to the determination of the merits of the matter and solely based on the allegations put before the court by the other side (and without CPIPG having been heard),” the statement said.
“In CPIPG’s view, there are overwhelming grounds on which the interim injunction can be successfully challenged and we are confident that it will eventually be set aside.”
To send feedback, e-mail newsdesk@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGPropertyNews
