Queen’s briefs called in for tycoon’s latest tussle

He Is arguably the most flamboyant tycoon in the land — a man who, at the age of 59, reputedly shares the fourth floor of his £20 million London mansion with his 29-year-old mistress as his estranged wife sleeps three floors below.

But the foundations of Robert Tchenguiz’s extraordinary, rollercoaster life are now under threat. For I can disclose that Tchenguiz — son of Victor Tchenguiz, one-time jeweller to the shah of Iran — faces a High Court action brought by IG Index. It has served him with a statutory demand which is often the prelude to full-scale bankruptcy proceedings.

But Tchenguiz, who owns a 160ft yacht, My Little Violet, has responded by enlisting the assistance of Farrer & Co, the Queen’s solicitors, who have asked the High Court to set IG’s statutory demand aside.

IG declines to comment, but it was one of a number of City firms from which Tchenguiz borrowed last year as he acquired a shareholding worth between £70 million and £100 million in the FirstGroup rail company.

At the time, FirstGroup’s shares were trading at between 90p and £1.30. But then came the pandemic and a collapse in its share price, which at one point slumped to 28p.

It was then that the firms which had lent Tchenguiz millions called in their loans.

A spokesman for Tchenguiz alleges that, by doing so, the firms behaved incorrectly. ‘The amounts claimed by them from Robert, as a result, are disputed,’ he tells me.

‘It is unclear whether any amount is owed by Robert to any of the traders, or whether in fact any of them need to account to him for damages he has suffered as a consequence of their actions.’

The forthcoming legal battle promises to be stimulating. Two years ago, in an entirely separate High Court action, Mr Justice Popplewell declared that Tchenguiz was ‘not a good witness’ and was prepared ‘to say whatever he thought would assist [his] case’.