Pub giant JD Wetherspoon has won its fraud claim against agent Van de Berg & Co.
This morning at the high court, the presiding judge found that Van de Berg’s Chris Braun had committed fraudulent dishonest breaches of fiduciary duty owed to Wetherspoon across a number of pub transactions.
Fellow Van de Berg employees Richard Harvey and George Aldridge were liable for providing dishonest assistance to Braun.
The judgment was described as “a substantial victory” for Wetherspoon by the judge.
EG revealed in 2006 that the pub giant was suing the agent over a dispute concerning 13 property deals.
Wetherspoon claimed that it paid Van de Berg & Co a retainer of £2m pa to source properties. It said that the agent had agreed to act as an exclusive introducer of freehold properties to Wetherspoon but falsely used information obtained from its position as an advisor.
A further 41 property deals were added to the dispute in May last year.
Passing judgment the judge said that while it had been a “substantial victory” for Wetherspoon, with legal costs of £3.6m, “whether it is a cost effective piece of litigation is of course a matter for JDW and its board and shareholders”.
Reviewing the evidence of Wetherspoon’s founder and chairman Tim Martin the judge found that Martin was “very impressive” but the judge had to approach his evidence with caution as he had at some times “lost his objectivity” and “over emphasised” his case.
Ordering Braun, Harvey and Aldridge to pay Wetherspoon’s legal costs on an indemnity basis, the judge held that they had each served dishonest pleadings, made dishonest witness statements and given dishonest evidence in court.
Commenting on the 15-day cross-examination of Braun by Catherine Newman QC for Wetherspoon the judge found that her approach was fully justified as being necessary “to break down Mr Braun, destroy him and expose his dishonesty as she did”.
Following judgment Martin said: “We are delighted by the result. The defendants were dealing with us on the basis of trust and received fees of many millions of pounds over a long period.
“It was astonishingly dishonest and greedy to divert properties to third parties. A lot of people think that anything goes in the property market and this case shows that that’s not true.”
James McBurney, Senior Associate from Pinsent Masons LLP, JDW’s lawyers, said: “Obtaining judgment against the defendants took time and dedication from JDW and its legal team.
“Because of the nature of the claims and the manner in which facts were concealed from it JDW had to undertake an extensive investigation into VdB’s activities over the course its 15 year relationship,” he said.
