Shoe tycoon stole £500k for cigars and luxury trips

THE former face of a designer shoe firm whose footwear has been worn by the Duchess of Sussex was warned he faces jail after falsely claiming £500,000 in personal expenses.

Roy Luwolt, co-founder and director of Malone Souliers, blew the cash on foreign holidays, jewellery, nightclubbing – and even £650 cigars.

The fashion brand, set up in 2014, has designed luxury shoes which have been worn by celebrities such as Meghan Markle, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Beyoncé.

Luwolt (pictured) was sacked in November 2018 after the fraud was discovered. The 38-year-old, of Marylebone, central London, appeared at Southwark crown court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud between March 24, 2015, and November 15, 2018.

The charge states that he abused his position as managing director of World Wide

Shoes LLP, which trades as Malone Souliers, ‘by claiming personal expenses for which you were not entitled’. Prosecutor Adam Davis QC said the offence ‘involves not less than £500,000 being obtained’. Four further counts of fraud, which Luwolt has denied, were left to lie on file. He was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on August 20. Judge Philip Bartle QC said: ‘This is a very serious case. On the face of it, he is facing a lengthy prison sentence.’

In a 2016 interview with The Sunday Times, Luwolt was described as being the son of a diplomat mother, who spent his formative years in New York and Michigan. It added that, after graduating, he worked in wealth management, television, marketing and advertising before moving into fashion brand consultancy. ‘It’s the sexiest consumer-facing thing I could possibly get my hands on,’ he told the paper. ‘I come from a finance background, but with a full fashion understanding.’

By 2018, a profile in Thailand Tatler, said Luwolt was the sole artistic director of Malone Souliers, founder of women’s shirt brand Absence Of Paper, and chief executive of fashion brand Emanuel Ungaro.