Spouse of Russian oligarch asks UK court docket to jail him over unpaid authorized charges

[ad_1] By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) -The spouse of a Russian oil tycoon requested a decide on the Excessive Court docket in London on Wednesday to jail her husband, alleging he had repeatedly didn't pay her authorized charges of their multi-million greenback divorce case.

Mikhail Kroupeev, the non-executive chairman of power firm Gulfsands, is accused by his spouse Elena Kroupeeva of refusing to adjust to quite a few courts orders following the collapse of their 36-year marriage.

In keeping with submissions from her authorized group to the court docket, the couple separated in "tempestuous" circumstances after Kroupeeva found in 2023 her husband had for a lot of the final 20 years been dwelling a double life with a secret second household in Russia.

She started proceedings for a monetary settlement in July 2024, and in February, Kroupeev was ordered to pay simply over 195,000 kilos in direction of her authorized charges.

However her attorneys mentioned he had didn't adjust to that and different subsequent orders demanding he reveal the true extent of the wealth from his enterprise empire.

He now owed her greater than 837,000 kilos, they mentioned, whereas a freezing order had additionally been made protecting 38 million kilos ($51 million) of his property. Her attorneys mentioned the decide ought to now situation an order for his imprisonment for contempt of court docket.

"It's prompt that nothing wanting a interval of imprisonment will likely be an efficient punishment," her attorneys mentioned of their court docket submission.

Kroupeev's lawyer Michael Glaser mentioned the allegations about their marriage and alleged affairs shouldn't have been made.

"Not solely are they not related, they're denied," he instructed the court docket, saying the contested court docket order was topic to an attraction.

Nonetheless, the decide rejected his try and have the case adjourned.

The couple, who're each Russian nationals however have British citizenship, moved to Britain in 1993. Kroupeeva's lawyer Justin Warshaw mentioned Kroupeev had made his fortune by way of his connections with Yuri Shafranik, a former Russian power minister.

In addition to Gulfsands, which Kroupeeva's attorneys mentioned had a contract to export oil from Syria, his enterprise pursuits included Jupiter Vitality, which is concerned in oil and fuel exports in Kazakhstan, and Waterford Finance which specialises in oil, fuel and different power initiatives.

"They've been a really rich household for a really very long time," Justin Warshaw, Kroupeeva's lawyer instructed the court docket, saying they lived an "opulent way of life".

The couple's property have been in depth, together with a 15 million pound home in north London, luxurious properties in Portugal and Turkey, and a portfolio of properties in Russia value 10 million kilos, her attorneys mentioned. The couple additionally took luxurious holidays that concerned flying by non-public jet, they mentioned.

"A big motivation for travelling privately could be to make sure that the household canines may go on vacation with the household," her authorized group mentioned of their submission.