The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
US buyer snaps up Taymouth Castle
Arizona company strikes deal after legal battle
A US developer has struck a deal to buy historic Taymouth Castle.
It follows a bitter legal dispute, which saw a lawyer jailed over £17.5 million of missing funds.
Arizona-based Discovery Land Company (DLC) was left scrabbling to transfer extra money for the castle, after the law firm of London-based Stephen Jones lent funds that were set aside for the sale to two other clients.
The High Court in London heard that DLC only discovered the money was missing when it moved to buy the Highland Perthshire pile.
The castle was famously visited by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and plans were recently unveiled to transform it into a “world class” hotel.
Jones was jailed for 14 months for not repaying the cash, and refusing to identify who the other clients were.
A US property firm has finalised a deal to buy Taymouth Castle after a lawyer at the centre of the sale was jailed over millions of pounds of misappropriated funds.
American developer Discovery Land Company (DLC) has been holding behind-the-scenes talks to take over the historic Highland Perthshire pile.
The firm has a reputation for high quality residential communities and clubs across North America, and its plans for Taymouth represent its first foray in the UK.
The neo-Gothic castle near Kenmore was famously visited by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1842.
Recent attempts to redevelop the building into a “world-class” hotel have been hit by money problems. Last year, a Libyan statesman who served under dictator Muammer Gaddafi was accused of stealing government cash to plough into the project.
In the latest twist of the increasingly winding saga, an attempt by Arizonabased DLC to buy the castle has led to a bitter legal dispute.
Lawyer Stephen Jones’s firm Jirehouse was instructed by DLC to oversee the purchase of Taymouth.
More than £11.5 million ($14.5m) was wired into an account controlled by Jirehouse in April last year, then a further £7.6m was sent in December.
However unbeknown to DLC, the money was loaned to two of Jirehouse’s other clients.
Jones was jailed for 14 months after a three-day hearing at the High Court in London after he failed to pay back more than £14m, despite a previous promise to do so. He also refused to name the clients to whom he had given the money.
The court heard when the purchase was due to take place, the funds were not in the company’s account.
Judge Mr Justice Zacaroli said Jones had made “an elaborate series of excuses” for their whereabouts.
The court was told that DLC was able to finalise the purchase of the castle, only after the company wired through further funds to pay for it.
Although Jones refused to identify the two other clients, he said one was “developing a golf resort”.
In his judgment, Mr Zacaroli said: “It had been anticipated that the borrowers would sell their respective assets between June and July 2018. A sale of either asset would provide sufficient funds to repay the surplus funds.”
Jirehouse was shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority earlier this year.
Jones, who had previously worked for creditors of Dundee property developer Scot Young, was sentenced to 14 months for breach of payment undertakings and failing to disclose the identities of the two borrowers. He could be released earlier if he complies with the court.
DLC did not respond to requests for comment.