Property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz’s legal battle with accounting firm Grant Thornton and failed Icelandic lender Kaupthing seems very much alive, despite his brother Vincent’s decision to settle a similar case last year, writes James Lumley.
Around 50 lawyers crammed themselves into Court 24 of London’s Commercial Court building today for the latest case management conference in the case of Robert Tchenguiz and ors v Grant Thornton UK LLP and ors.
The brothers have been embroiled in a long and complicated series of legal battles over an 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.
However the brothers continued to pursue executives from Kaupthing and UK accounting firm Grant Thornton whom they claim were involved in a conspiracy to encourage the SFO to start their investigation.
In October, Vincent Tchenguiz reached a settlement in the £2.2bn lawsuit that he brought against Kaupthing, meaning his claims against the bank and Grant Thornton were withdrawn.
That didn’t end the already extremely protracted litigation. A spokesperson for Grant Thornton at the time confirmed that it had reached no settlement with Tchenguiz, and will seek to press its own claim to recover millions of pounds in legal costs and other damages. Robert Tchenguiz’s case is still live, as today’s hearing demonstrated.
Today’s hearing relates to Robert Tchenguiz’s claims against Grant Thornton and others which has, so far, been a protracted tussle over document disclosure made more complicated by a ruling in May by the judge, Mr Justice Knowles, that a range of documents that had been prepared for previous litigation involving the brothers could be used in a future trial.
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.
The parties lawyers have been exchanging letters on the issue while they prepare for a trial. Today they asked for various directions from the judge on issues they failed to agree on, including disclosure, security for costs and future hearings.
However, there is hope that the case may proceed to culmination in the not-too-very-distant future. Today, Knowles J said he was keen to avoid delays “now that we are on the critical path to trial”.
“I will be ready to dismiss any application if I conclude that it is made too late,” he said.
Robert Tchenguiz and ors v Grant Thornton UK LLP and ors
CMC (Knowles J) 27 January 2018
