Watson’s ‘low profile’ in Ibiza
The investigator co-ordinating the hunt for Eric Watson says he is confident he has the elusive Kiwi businessman tracked down, and there are boots on the ground to serve him with legal papers.
Watson is being chased by liquidators of Watson’s Cullen Group over a $57m claim, and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, but both have been unable to serve legal papers to-date.
The Kiwi investigator, who asked not to be named for fear of compromising the search, said anonymous sources had confirmed Watson was in Ibiza, and they had a good idea where on the island.
‘‘We have people on the ground over there,’’ the investigator said.
‘‘The objective is to serve him, so they are going to find him, and if they can find him they will throw the documents at him, but he’s keeping a very low profile, as you would if you owed that much money.
‘‘It’s local knowledge and surveillance, so they will talk to people and surveillance is obviously the key to it.
‘‘Being overt isn’t going to find him, if you go to his favourite cafe, and they say: ‘There was a
PI here looking for you’, you can guarantee he’s not going to be back there any time soon.’’
The investigator said Watson had been found before, and he would be found again.
Watson’s partner lives in Ibiza, as does their son, he said.
‘‘He’s not going to go for an extended period without seeing his son.’’
There is a risk the recent media attention might cause Watson to move on.
Watson has boasted previously of being able to use friends’ private jets and air miles to travel around Europe, and spoken about big European property deals he had in the works.
That was in early 2021, when Watson had recently left Pentonville Prison after being sentenced to four months for contempt of court.
His financial troubles did not stop him getting on to a private jet to Ibiza, and enjoying a stay at a friend’s spare home there. Since that interview, Watson has been less willing to court the media spotlight.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to charge Watson with insider trading, after he passed non-public information about a drinks company to a friend before it announced to the stock market it would switch from beverages to blockchain technology, sending its share price skyrocketing.
The commission tried to serve him through two separate representatives both of whom said they could not accept the documents on Watson’s behalf.
A memorandum to the United States District Court Southern District of New York states the commission decided ‘‘further efforts to find and serve Watson will prove costly and will further delay this proceeding, without any guarantee of success’’.
The organisation sought approval to publish a notice containing the information in the summons in The International New York Times – a publication Watson was likely to read.
Sir Owen Glenn has pursued Watson for $57m and was a big part of why the former rich-lister ended up in a London jail, after a UK court ruled a $252m investment in a joint European property venture, called Project Spartan, had been procured by deceit by Watson.
‘‘The only news on the grapevine is that he is in a bnb in Ibiza, San Balearic Islands, Spain,’’ Glenn said. ‘‘I have not had time and duty to verify this, as a fact.’’
Watson’s ex-PR manager, Leigh Harris, said she has not had anything to do with Watson for nine months.