A London judge ruled today that a range of documents that had been prepared for previous litigation involving property tycoons Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz can be used in a future trial, writes James Lumley.
The brothers, both property tycoons, are embroiled in a long and complicated series of legal battles over investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into their business in the wake of the failure of Icelandic lends Kaupthing.
That SFO investigation led to their arrest in 2011, and subsequent release without charge. The SFO later settled a lawsuit brought by the brothers, paid damages, and issued an apology.
Various claims have been issued by the brothers and companies they are connected to. Today’s ruling related to proceedings brought by Robert Tchenguiz. The ruling is the culmination of a case management procedure that has taken many months. It was presided over by judge Mr Justice Knowles.
The documents that can be used include witness statements prepared by the SFO and expert reports prepared by the SFO and lawyers acting for Robert Tchenguiz.
Although they had been prepared for previous public litigation, they never reached the public domain so parties needed permission from a judge to use them.
Knowles J, in his ruling, said that all of the documents were prepared for civil litigation, not criminal proceedings.
The arduous case management process that came prior to this judgment “has hugely reduced the number of documents” to be used in the upcoming trial, Knowles J said.
“A great deal of work has been done to good effect”, he said. “The path to liaison has not always been smooth… but I do commend the legal teams”.
Robert Tchenguiz and ors v. Grant Thornton UK LLP and ors
CMC (Knowles J) 24 May 2017.
