‘Misleading’ account hurts Watson’s case
Former Warriors rugby league club owner Eric Watson has been labelled ‘‘secretive’’ and ‘‘misleading’’ by a British High Court judge.
Yesterday Justice Nugee’s ruling in a complex and high-stakes legal battle between Watson and fellow rich-lister Sir Owen Glenn was made public.
The 12-week long High Court case in London relates to hundreds of millions of dollars Watson and Glenn pumped into a joint European property venture called Spartan Capital.
The case encompasses Caribbean tax havens, allegations of dirty tricks and press leaks, and has at its roots a personal feud between the pair stretching back to clashes over their joint ownership of the Warriors.
In his findings Justice Nugee said Watson was secretive, gave misleading accounts of conversations, and executed loan agreements knowing they breached an injunction from 2013.
In one deal involving Watson’s money, his ‘‘right-hand man’’ William Gibson and co-defendant Miles Leahy were reluctant to answer simple questions from other parties, which was ‘‘illustrative of a tendency to be secretive which accurately reflected the way Mr Watson liked to operate’’, Justice Nugee said.
Justice Nugee also rejected evidence Watson gave in relation to a funding proposal related to the case.
‘‘I had the distinct impression when he was giving that evidence that he was not misremembering, but was deliberately covering up the truth,’’ Justice Nugee said.
Sir Owen and his company Kea Investments had a claim against Spartan of £129 million (NZ$248.3 million), plus interest, along with profits Spartan made in a residential portfolio investment called Project Royal.
But Kea always expected that Spartan would be unable to pay because it was insolvent.
Instead Kea sought compensation of £47.5m from Watson.
In his submissions Watson said he objected to paying this amount but accepted a lower amount of £23.4m.
Watson said he did not agree with some of the judge’s conclusions. ‘‘We are pleased we won a portion of the case, but it’s fair to say overall I am disappointed. I have asked my legal team to file an urgent appeal covering the areas of disagreement,’’ he said.
Watson, one of New Zealand’s richest men, has lived full time in London since 2002 and recently has been cashing in his assets in New Zealand.
In September he sold the Te Hihi luxury estate in Karaka for $14 million. He also sold his stake in Soul Bar and Bistro in Auckland’s Viaduct in March.
And in May it was confirmed his business Cullen Investments sold the Warriors to Carlaw Heritage Trust and Autex Industries.
Watson first bought a share in the club in December 2000.
In 2012 Glenn went into partnership with Watson to co-own the Warriors, but in 2015 was bought out by Watson. Glenn, now 78, is battling cancer.