Aide fired over luxury trips battles billionaire for £17m
MOBILE phone billionaire John Caudwell fired a glamorous French executive after she spent £33,000 expenses on exotic family trips, gifts and beauty treatment, the High Court in London heard yesterday.
But Nathalie Dauriac-Stoebe, 39, alleges the colourful Phones4U founder sacked her unfairly and owes her up to £17million in lost shares.
Mr Caudwell, 65, claimed his former protege was “corrupt” and “cracking up” after discovering her extravagant claims while chief executive of investment company Signia Wealth.
Mrs Dauriac-Stoebe used her expense account to take husband Konrad – and sometimes her daughter and nanny – to luxury resorts such as St Tropez, Nice, Ibiza, South Africa and the Caribbean.
Mr Justice Marcus Smith was told the £200,000-a-year boss also flew abroad for beauty treatment in Paris and Alicante and to a birthday party in Malaga.
The court heard the former Coutts bank high-flier admitted some of her claims were “wrong” and offered to pay most of the cash back after
claimS that got her Sack
AmoNg mrs Dauriac-Stoebe’s disputed expense claims were:
£5,527 spent flying her, husband Konrad and another person to South Africa.
£1,085 for her, Konrad “and kids” to fly to St Tropez with mr Caudwell. £200 beauty treatment in Paris. £104 for Konrad’s birthday cake. £111 coffee for mrs Dauriac-Stoebe and Konrad with two other people.
£340 for flights to malaga for a friend’s birthday party.
£127 flight to Alicante for detox trip. being confronted. But Signia accused her of trying to cover up the bogus claims and Mrs DauriacStoebe left the firm she helped found with father-of-five Mr Caudwell.
The company is suing her, alleging gross misconduct. She is countersuing Signia and Mr Caudwell for wrongful dismissal and up to £17million lost when, under company rules, she had to hand back her shares for a nominal £2 fee.
Signia’s barrister Monica CarssFrisk told the court the woman had “plainly made expenses claims she was not entitled to make” and added: “Her approach to expenses claims was brazen.”
But in a written statement to the court, Mrs Dauriac-Stoebe said she was forced out after Mr Caudwell accused her of being a liar and threatened to call in the police.
There was an “ulterior motive” behind the expenses inquiry, the judge heard. She said she was “constructively dismissed” to avoid her getting what she was due.
She claimed there was no wrongdoing and there were also no grounds to dismiss her.
The case continues.