NICK CANDY JOINS THE PARTY SET AT CANNES March 8, 2012 AFTER a subdued and more sombre start to MIPIM, the annual property conference in Cannes, the mood began to pick up on Wednesday, the second and busiest day, as the weather brightened and investors began to talk more positively, albeit cautiously about the outlook for real estate this year. The sun graced Cannes in time [...]
Ex-Tchenguiz property firm in £62m deal March 6, 2012 THE property management company run by Vincent Tchenguiz before he became embroiled in a fraud probe has been rescued from administration in a £62m deal. Peverel has been taken over by private equity houses Chamonix and Electra Partners, who said they would secure more than 4,200 jobs. It comes nearly a year after the holding [...]
Tchenguiz brothers set for new battle with SFO February 22, 2012 PROPERTY tycoons Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz have won the right for a judicial review of the circumstances surrounding their arrests last year during a Serious Fraud Office probe. Yesterday the embattled SFO did not contest High Court applications by the brothers, who were held in March as part of the SFO inquiry into the collapse [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 15, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES FOREIGN OFFICE PLANS £240M WORTH OF PROPERTY SALES The Foreign Office has drawn up plans to sell hundreds of embassies and homes worth nearly a quarter of a billion pounds as it increases its presence in fast-growing countries such as China and Brazil. The Foreign Office has hired property agents CBRE and DTZ [...]
Grieve orders probe into SFO February 14, 2012 MINISTERS have ordered an inquiry into the running of the Serious Fraud Office following the collapse of a string of major investigations. The review, which will begin next month, will be carried out by the head of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and will look at SFO cases and how it chooses investigations. Dominic Grieve, [...]
Tchenguiz to seek service station sales January 15, 2012 ROBERT Tchenguiz, the high-flying property entrepreneur, is looking to sell a portfolio of Welcome Break motorway service stations in a deal that could be worth more than £300m. Tchenguiz bought the sites eight years ago through his company, Rotch Property Group, for around £24.7m, with backing from Royal Bank of Scotland. He is understood to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SFO TARGETS CRIMINAL COMPANY DIVIDENDS The UK’s fraud investigator intends to confiscate shareholder dividends paid by companies convicted of criminal offences, after it won approval for a landmark court action. The Serious Fraud Office won a civil recovery order yesterday against the principal shareholder of a company that had admitted corruption. GROUPAMA TO [...]
SFO Tchenguiz blow December 22, 2011 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office was dealt a blow yesterday after it was forced to hand back documents seized in a dawn raid on Vincent Tchenguiz’s offices earlier this year, part of its probe into the collapse of Kaupthing. The embattled property tycoon yesterday declared the SFO had admitted the decision to issue search warrants “should [...]
Tchenguiz: SFO admits to errors in case December 22, 2011 VINCENT Tchenguiz’s war with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) may not be over but forcing the watchdog to admit to errors over his controversial arrest represents a major battle won. Vincent Tchenguiz was arrested in March over his exposure to the collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing but has always maintained his innocence. The Iranian-born property magnate [...]
Tchenguiz: SFO admits to errors in case December 22, 2011 VINCENT Tchenguiz’s war with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) may not be over but forcing the watchdog to admit to errors over his controversial arrest represents a major battle won. Vincent Tchenguiz was arrested in March over his exposure to the collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing but has always maintained his innocence. The Iranian-born property magnate [...]