Tchenguiz brothers: Search warrants issued against property magnates

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Tchenguiz brothers: Search warrants issued against property magnates

August 1st, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Mark Duell

PUBLISHED:

15:58 EST, 31 July 2012

|

UPDATED:

22:17 EST, 31 July 2012

The Serious Fraud Office committed a catalogue of errors during its disastrous probe into the Tchenguiz brothers, two leading judges said yesterday.

Their scathing High Court ruling found that the agency had unlawfully obtained search warrants for its investigation of the property magnates.

The agency is bracing itself for a huge damages lawsuit which could run into tens of millions of pounds – possibly dwarfing its annual budget of £32million.

Seeking damages: Vincent Tchenguiz and companion in Camden, north London

Property ycoons Robert Tchenguiz, left, and his brother Vincent Tchenguiz before they were arrested last year by the Serious Fraud Office

The judges warned that ‘incalculable
damage’ will be done to markets if proper resources are not made
available for future fraud investigations. Last month the SFO began
investigating attempts to manipulate the Libor interbank lending rates.

Judges ruled today that Vincent Tchenguiz was unlawfully arrested and searched

Oral evidence given by the SFO at the
original search warrants hearing was ‘unfair and inaccurate’ and its
tone was ‘unjustified’, the court found.

The judges said there was a failure to
set out the background, a lack of clarity, errors and a failure to put
forward the issues against them being granted.

Investigators have been probing the
Tchenguizes’ dealings with Icelandic bank Kaupthing, which they tapped
for large loans shortly before it buckled in 2008.

The brothers were arrested and
questioned last March after their offices were searched – but both were
released on bail without charge, pending further investigation.

Yesterday Queen’s Bench Division
president Sir John Thomas and Mr Justice Silber upheld the challenge
against the legality of the warrants and sent the case to another court
to assess the level of damages.

The ruling piles further pressure on
new SFO chief David Green, who dropped the case against Vincent
Tchenguiz in June as one of his first jobs in office.

But the SFO last night vowed to press
ahead with its probe into brother Robert who, along with his firms, owed
Kaupthing £1.6billion when it collapsed.

A Police van outside in central London during the swoop on the two brothers in March 2011

A branch of Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank, in Reykjavik, which collapsed in 2008. The Serious Fraud Office are investigating its failure.

The brothers said the publicity
surrounding their arrest and raids has inflicted lasting damage on their
reputations and businesses.

In a statement Vincent said he would be seeking compensation.

‘The series of concessions made by the
SFO following the raids on my home and offices had already shown that
the search warrants were flawed,’ he added.

‘Today’s judgment highlights that the
orders for those searches, which have caused massive damage to my
business and to my reputation, should never have been granted.

‘I will be seeking damages from the SFO – and from any other parties who contributed to the court being misled.’