Tycoon’s wife denies paying £300,000 to have him killed
The wife of a property tycoon said to be worth more than £200million yesterday denied being involved in a plot to kill him.
details of the alleged conspiracy to murder andy ruhan emerged in a divorce hearing at the High Court.
His lawyers probed tania richard son ruhan over a ‘suspicious’ £300,000 she sent to an associate a year before the same man was arrested over the alleged assasination plot in 2016.
Mrs richardson-ruhan, 49, wants a slice of her husband’s fortune, which she claims is hidden in offshore companies or in the bank accounts of associates.
But Mr ruhan, 55 – who once owned 37 thistle Hotels and sat on the board of the lotus Formula one team – claims to be penniless and over £4million in debt.
His lawyer Martin Pointer QC told Mrs richardson-ruhan: ‘You have described the suggestion that there was a plot to murder Mr ruhan as being an idea that he has come up with and reported to the police. is that right?’
She replied: ‘it is.’ But Mr Pointer said his client ‘never instigated an investigation’ and ‘had no idea about this [plot] at all until his interview by the police’.
the wife said: ‘i believe Mr ruhan made the complaint, because the police said the complaint had been made and therefore they have to follow proce band dure.’ Mr Pointer told the court three men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to kill Mr ruhan.
and his wife had given one of the men a ‘gift’ of £300,000, taken out against the £4.8million family home in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, the year before.
She claimed it was to ‘right a wrong’ committed by her hus- in a business dealing with the man. Mr Pointer said the timing was ‘suspicious’.
He asked: ‘did you pay any money… with a view to getting rid of Mr ruhan?’ She replied: ‘no.’
Mrs richardson-ruhan said she had learned of the alleged plot ‘on holiday in turkey’, adding: ‘a friend texted me … there had been an allegation made of wanting Mr ruhan killed.’ Mrs richardsonruhan said she voluntarily attended a police station to be interviewed.
the court heard she was not arrested or charged and that Cheshire Police said the investigation was no longer ongoing and ‘no person was formally charged’. the hearing was told Mr ruhan, who is now living on a luxury yacht, has racked up divorce bills of £573,000, while his wife, the mother of his two children, has spent £966,000.
Mrs richardson-ruhan claimed her husband had seized paperwork from the safe in their home which proved he had nominated another man to hold on to his fortune.
the hearing continues.