Online betting company Spreadex has dropped its appeal against a court decision in its £6.5m debt recovery claim against Paul Kemsley.
In April, a High Court master dismissed Spreadex’s application for judgment on the claim concerning an allegedly unpaid spread-betting bill, without the need for a full trial.
Spreadex claims that, on 10 October 2008, one of Kemsley’s two spread-betting accounts, which he used to bet on movements in the financial markets, showed a negative balance of £3.6m.
It alleges that Kemsley had a prior agreement with its managing director, Jonathan Hufford, to pay £2m into the account within 24 hours once that balance had been reached, but that Kemsley failed to do so.
Spreadex closed Kemsley’s account on 21 October, when the debts reached £4.7m. The firm alleges that the entrepreneur also owes £1.7m on another account.
Relying on a witness statement of his close personal friend Sir Philip Green, Kemsley alleges that he could have raised the funds with comparative ease, but that Hufford chose to close the accounts.
The master found that the matter was not amenable to such a summary determination because there was “a direct conflict of evidence that it is inappropriate for the court to resolve on a summary judgment application without cross-examination of Mr Hufford and Mr Kemsley and disclosure”.
Yesterday, lawyers for both parties appeared before Vos J to determine whether that decision should be reversed.
However, Spreadex’s lawyers told the court that it was dropping the appeal.
The full trial of the claim with cross-examination of the two men will take place in April.
