The High Court has confirmed a charging order over a Kensington flat, after a judge ruled that it is beneficially owned by Russian businessman Anatoly Danilitskiy, not his daughter.
Danilitskiy is an ex-diplomat whose considerable business interests include having been a former manager of the National Reserve Corporation (NRC), the holding company for a number of businesses ultimately owned by oligarch Alexander Lebedev, an ex-KBG agent who now owns the London Evening Standard.
In January 2016, NRC obtained judgment in default against Danilitskiy in the sum of US£5m, after he failed to defend a fraud claim made against him in respect of alleged actions during his time as shareholder and manager of NRC.
Deputy judge Robin Dicker QC said that Danilitskiy has not taken any steps to set aside that judgment, and that NRC sought to enforce it by way of a charging order over property at 3 Holly Lodge, London, W8, bought in 2006 for £3.17m. It claimed that the property was purchased with money provided by Danilitskiy.
However, NRC’s application was opposed by Opal Stem, the BVI-based legal owner of the property, which claimed that Danilitskiy was not the beneficial owner of the property. Instead, it argued that Danilitskiy’s elder daughter, Polina Maltseva – now the shareholder and director of Opal Stem – is the true beneficial owner.
Now though, the deputy judge has ruled in NRC’s favour and ruled that the transfer of shares in Opal Stem to Maltseva in late 2015 did not mean that Danilitskiy had divested himself of his beneficial interest in the property.
Maltseva gave evidence that, since December 2015, she has paid all service charges and other fees in respect of the property, dealt with the estates management team and received all rental payments from tenants.
But the deputy judge said: “Given, however, the existence of NRC’s claim and the subsequent issue of the application of the charging order, such dealings are, in my view, of little assistance. They are equally consistent with a desire on Mr Danilitskiy’s part to try and keep the property out of the hands of NRC, by giving the impression that he does not have any interest in it.”
He added: “Mr Danilitskiy acquired the beneficial interest by way of a resulting trust when he purchased the property in the name of Opal Stem and still retains that beneficial interest.”
As a result, he made permanent an interim charging order granted previously.
