Vincent Tchenguiz

Vincent Tchenguiz
Born 1956 (age 59–60)
Tehran, Iran
Residence Kensington, London
Ethnicity Iranian Jewish
Citizenship British
Alma mater Boston University
McGill University
New York University
Occupation Chairman of consensus business group
Net worth Increase£850 million with brother[1]

Vincent Tchenguiz (born October 1956) is a Iranian-British entrepreneur born in Tehran, brother of Robert Tchenguiz.

Early life and education

Tchenguiz was born in Teheran to an Iraqi-Jewish family,[2] the son of Victor and Violet Khadouri.[3] His family left Iraq in 1948 and settled in Iran, where his father, a jeweller, worked for the Shah and ran the country's mint.[3] He also changed the family surname from Khadouri to Tchenguiz. In 1979 the family moved in England after the Iranian revolution.[3] He has one brother and one sister: Robert Tchenguiz and Lisa Tchenguiz (formerly married to BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, Gary Davies,[4] and South African-born Del Monte CEO, Vivian Imerman).[5]

Tchenguiz completed his Iranian education in Tehran in 1973. He subsequently completed a business administration course at Boston University and then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and a Bachelor of Science Honours in Economics from Montreal's McGill University in 1978. A master's degree in business administration from New York University followed two years later.[6]

Career

Upon completion of university, Vincent Tchenguiz took employment in London with Prudential Bache as senior vice-president of their fund management division, where he traded financial instruments. In 1986, he went on to another senior vice-president position, this time trading financial instruments for Shearson Lehman Brothers in London.[6]

Two years later, he and brother Robert established a commercial property business, Rotch Property Group. Vincent Tchenguiz is joint managing director and joint chairman. In 2002, Vincent Tchenguiz set up Consensus Business Group, assuming the position of chairman. Consensus functions as the principal advisor to a family trust, advising on an investment portfolio of residential freeholds and commercial properties valued by Lazard in 2012 at approximately 3.0 billion pounds. Consensus also advises on other investments, including health care, clean technology, biotechnology, homeland security and holdings in funds valued at around 200 million pounds.

On 10 March 2011, Vincent Tchenguiz was arrested by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as part of a wider investigation into the collapse of Icelandic bank, Kaupthing. However, he was released the same day without charge.[7]

Subsequently, on 16 March 2011 the High Court in London ruled that Vincent Tchenguiz could sue Icelandic bank, Kaupthing for damages of £1 billion ($1.6 billion).[8] In September 2011, Kaupthing reached an out of court settlement with the Tchenguiz Family Trust in their pursuit of damages against the Icelandic bank.[9] All details of the settlement remain confidential.

On 5 December 2011, Vincent Tchenguiz and other parties in the case wrote to SFO, outlining details of allegation against the government department and seeking damages of c.£100 million.

On 22 December 2011 the SFO and the Treasury Solicitors Department (TSoI) admitted factual errors in the information used to obtain the warrants against Consensus Business Group and Vincent Tchenguiz; stated that the warrants should be quashed; and that material seized under the warrants would be returned that day. Furthermore, the SFO offered to pay reasonable legal costs.

Vincent Tchenguiz said: “It beggars belief that the SFO has taken so long to realise the error of their ways and I do not regard their actions … as being of their own initiative – their hand has been forced by our legal actions. Whilst I am glad that they have conceded to pay the significant legal costs incurred – the damage their actions have caused, both financial and to my reputation, are far greater. I intend to pursue them through the civil courts for damages.” [10]

In December 2012 the Financial Times reported that the brothers are to seek up to £180m in damages from the SFO.[11]

On 25 July 2014, Vincent Tchenguiz agreed a settlement with the SFO and receives a full apology from SFO Director David Green who "deeply regrets the errors" made by his agency.[12][13] In a statement, Vincent Tchenguiz says that "it has become increasingly apparent that the SFO's investigation was influenced by certain third parties acting in their own commercial interest.”

Vincent Tchenguiz is unmarried, resides in Mayfair, London, with additional homes in St. Tropez and Cape Town. He maintains a 130-foot Mangusta motor yacht on the French Riviera named "Veni Vidi Vici," Latin for "I came, I saw, I conquered.”

SFO Case Timeline

9 March 2011– Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz are arrested by City police and SFO investigators.[14] The brothers both deny any wrongdoing and are released on the same day without charge[15]

18 May 2012 – Secret negotiations are revealed that show that the SFO offered to drop their investigation into Vincent Tchenguiz in return for a £50 million donation to charity after Lord Justice Thomas accuses the SFO of acting with "sheer incompetence"[16]

18 June 2012 – The SFO drops its investigation into Vincent Tchenguiz.[17] In a statement, Vincent Tchenguiz said: “I have consistently explained to the SFO that they had got it completely wrong – but, as their investigation collapsed around their ears, they stubbornly maintained that they regarded me as a suspect.” [18]

31 July 2012 – The SFO search warrants for the Tchenguiz brothers are deemed "unlawful" by the High Court and the investigators are further accused of "losing key documents and overlooking financial reports"[19]

15 October 2012 – The SFO drops its investigation into the relationship between Robert Tchenguiz and Kaupthing Bank[20]

3 December 2012 – It is announced that Vincent Tchenguiz is to seek extensive damages against the SFO including allegations of misfeasance in public office.[21]

6 February 2013 – Vincent Tchenguiz files his claim against the SFO including allegations of malicious prosecution and false imprisonment. The claim is for £200 million.[22]

27 March 2013 – SFO is criticised for "unacceptable delays" in their response to the claim made by the Tchenguiz brothers.[23]

26 July 2013 – Grant Thornton, the accountancy firm who provided information to the SFO ahead of the Vincent Tchenguiz's arrest, are ordered to disclose the documents shown to the investigators.

28 July 2013 – Grant Thornton are accused of "maliciously misleading" the Serious Fraud office in a series of letters which also accuse them of "criminal wrongdoing"[24][25]

11 November 2013 – It is revealed in court that the SFO shredded key documents in the Tchenguiz case on the order of accountants Grant Thornton in an attempt to reduce the number of documents it was obliged to disclose.[26]

20 February 2014 – An attempt to block the disclosure of five documents shown to the SFO by Grant Thornton ahead of the arrest of Vincent Tchenguiz is blocked by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they are "plainly relevant" to the case.[27] Grant Thornton Director, Mark McDonald, and Partner, Steve Akers, we ordered to pay the legal costs of the Tchenguiz brothers.

8 April 2014 – The SFO applies to the UK Treasury for emergency funding as it predicts that it could spend £18.5 million fighting the legal case brought against it by Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz.[28]

25 July 2014 – Vincent Tchenguiz agrees settlement with the SFO and receives a full apology from SFO Director David Green who "deeply regrets the errors" made by his agency.[12][13] In a statement, Vincent Tchenguiz says that "it has become increasingly apparent that the SFO's investigation was influenced by certain third parties acting in their own commercial interest.”

30 July 2014 – Robert Tchenguiz settles his case with the SFO and accepts a public apology from the Director of the SFO.[29] Vincent Tchenguiz is granted permission to hand evidence disclosed as part of the SFO investigation to criminal and civil legal teams to examine the possibility for further action against third parties[30]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz". The Times (London). Archived from the original on 5 May 2009.
  2. ↑ Mira Bar-Hillel (26 September 2012). "The Brothers". The London Magazine. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 The Daily Telegraph: "Lisa Tchenguiz and Vivian Imerman: profiles" 22 January 2010
  4. ↑ The Daily Telegraph: "Just like Diana, I had three people in my marriage" By Bryony Gordon 6 March 2013
  5. ↑ The Daily Mail: "Man from Del Monte says yes to £15m divorce (that's £85m less than she wanted)" By Jack Doyle 22 February 2013
  6. 1 2 Krieger, Candice (6 September 2007). "Interview: Vincent Tchenguiz". The Jewish Chronicle (London).
  7. ↑ Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz arrested in Iceland probe – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12688072
  8. ↑ High Court judge rules Tchenguiz brothers can sue bank – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12765522
  9. ↑ Tchenguiz settles civil claims against Kaupthing – http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/19/tchenguiz-kaupthing-idUSL5E7KJ0ZO20110919
  10. ↑ SFO setback in Vincent Tchenguiz investigation – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime/8974083/SFO-setback-in-Vincent-Tchenguiz-investigation.html
  11. ↑ Hammond, Ed (2012). "Tchenguiz brothers seek up to £180m from SFO". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 December 2012. The Tchenguiz brothers will on Monday ask the Serious Fraud Office for damages running into hundreds of millions of pounds over its aborted investigation into the role the property investors played in the collapse of the Icelandic banking system. If the amounts that Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz are seeking are awarded by the Central Criminal Court, the UK's main fraud-busting agency would be forced to pay the largest damages sum in its 25-year history.
  12. 1 2 “Vincent Tchenguiz in £3m settlement with Serious Fraud Office
  13. 1 2 “British prosecutor to pay $1.5 million in case related to Kaupthing inquiry”
  14. ↑ “Tchenguiz brothers arrested in Kaupthing raids”
  15. ↑ “Tchenguiz brothers arrested in Kaupthing investigation”
  16. ↑ “SFO offered to do £50m deal over Tchenguiz arrests”
  17. ↑ “Serious Fraud Office drops 15-month investigation into Vincent Tchenguiz”
  18. ↑ “SFO drops investigation into Vincent Tchenguiz”
  19. ↑ “SFO search warrants in Tchenguiz raid 'unlawful', High Court rules”
  20. ↑ “SFO drops corruption investigation into Robert Tchenguiz and Kaupthing”
  21. ↑ “Tchenguiz brothers seek up to £180m from SFO”
  22. ↑ “SFO faces £200m claim in Tchenguiz case”
  23. ↑ “Judge issues rebuke over delays Tchenguiz case”
  24. ↑ “Grant Thornton accused of wrongdoing in Tchenguiz case”
  25. ↑ “Tchenguiz vs Grant Thornton”
  26. ↑ “SFO ‘shredded documents’ in Tchenguiz case”
  27. ↑ “Grant Thornton pair fail to block release of Tchenguiz documents”
  28. ↑ “Fighting Tchenguiz case could cost SFO £18.5m”
  29. ↑ “UK’s fraud office settles Robert Tchenguiz claims”
  30. ↑ “Tchenguiz wins SFO arrest review”
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