£3bn Shard tycoon’s secret rape conviction before coming to UK
A PROPERTY developer once worth a reputed £3billion has been exposed as a violent rapist.
Simon Halabi, 60, was once near the top of the British rich list and had multi-million pound homes in central London.
However, under a different name he was found guilty in 1998 of having ‘slapped, punched and attempted to strangle’ a young woman trapped in his gated home, before raping her.
After being notified by French police, UK officers sought to use sex offender laws to force him to to inform the authorities of his address.
The process might have remained secret – but he tried to challenge the order, resulting in the full details of his crime being revealed.
Westminster magistrates’ court has now approved the police request to monitor the father of two, whose firm helped to develop the Shard skyscraper in London. He sold his stake before the tower was finished.
The court heard on Monday that Syrian-born Halabi had been given a suspended three-year prison sentence in Nice, southern France – under the name Mohamed Halabi – but never revealed it to officials as required.
It was not until 2012 that French police informed British police about Halabi, who by then was based in Mayfair under a new identity, the court heard.
Officers admitted that such delays were not unusual because the Violent and Sex Offender Register (VISOR) tasked with handling such cases has only half a dozen staff to monitor 1,500 offenders.
Barrister Alice Meredith said according to official records: ‘The victim aged 22 willingly went to home of defendant. He took her to his bedroom and started to undress [and] tore off her top ... he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the bed where he pinned her down. He then slapped, punched and attempted to strangle her. She tried to leave but the gate could only be activated from in the house.’
Halabi performed a series of sex acts on his victim, including rape, before threatening to kill her if she reported him. She was then allowed to leave.
After being held on remand for months, Halabi was freed and put on the French sex offenders’ register. However, he was able to leave the country and roam the world, settling in Britain using the first name he was born with. When French police contacted London, they gave his previous name and date of birth and British police failed to find him.
It was only last October that French authorities discovered and passed on that he had an alter ego, and UK officers found that Halabi was ‘a businessman and frequent international flyer’.
He was promptly intercepted at Heathrow airport and admitted his previous name and that he had been convicted of rape. Officer Alan Morgan, who brought the application, said: ‘ He has admitted frequent travel to the US, he has property in the Florida area and from his own admission he lied on a number of occasions. He ticked “no arrests” and “no convictions” on the landing forms... I’m sure he has travelled to many different countries around the world where visa requirements may require disclosure.’
Halabi’s barrister Gudrun Young said the application was brought in ‘bad faith’ long after a disputed conviction, saying: ‘He doesn’t accept the legitimacy of the conviction and is seeking to have it struck out.’
Halabi attended court but did not respond to a request for comment. He has in recent years been declared bankrupt owing more than £56million to a failed Iceland bank and become embroiled in divorce proceedings with his wife Urte, aged just 22 when he married her in 2002.
He is also being investigated by HMRC.
In 2016, at Southwark Crown Court, Halabi was charged with the racially aggravated assault of a bin man. He called the man a ‘black ****’ and an intervening black passer-by a ‘****ing monkey’ but was cleared after saying he did not believe the words were ‘really racist’.
‘He attempted to strangle his victim’