Billionaire who gagged press is revealed
Entrepreneur claims he is the victim of a smear campaign after police clear him of attacking woman
A US billionaire who gagged the British press after being arrested on suspicion of rape at a London hotel has been named as Shervin Pishevar, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Lawyers for Mr Pishevar said that the billionaire had been arrested and cleared over the rape allegation.
AN AMERICAN billionaire who gagged the British press after being arrested on suspicion of raping a woman at a top London hotel can now be revealed as Shervin Pishevar, the technology entrepreneur.
The businessman took out an injunction that prevented newspapers from naming him, after he was questioned by City of London Police in May.
He was arrested after a woman claimed she had been attacked in the penthouse suite of the Ned Hotel in the heart of London’s financial district.
Mr Pishevar is an Iranianamerican venture capitalist, who was one of the early investors in Uber and also cofounded Hyperloop One, the American company that promises to cut journey times around the globe to a fraction using electromagnetic technology.
Last week his name was made public in the United States after details of the arrest became the subject of an extraordinary legal dispute.
The Silicon Valley investor launched legal proceedings against a public relations firm he accused of deliberately peddling smears against him. Despite details of the case being reported in the US media – where the injunction did not apply – the British press was still unable to name him. But last night lawyers for Mr Pishevar confirmed that the billionaire had been arrested and cleared in connection with the rape allegation.
His representatives claim Mr Pishevar has been the subject of a concerted attempt to damage his reputation and many of the details reported in the US media relating to his arrest were untrue.
His lawyer said: “In May this year, Mr Pishevar was briefly detained and swiftly exonerated after an untrue allega- tion of wrongdoing was made. Following such exoneration, by consent, the interim injunction prohibiting reporting of the incident has been lifted. Hence reporting restrictions in relation to the arrest no longer apply.
“Indeed, Mr Pishevar has himself spoken about the global smear campaign against him, which is the subject of proceedings issued in the United States last week.”
The father-of-two was arrested on May 27 when a woman went to Bishopsgate Police Station and told officers she had been raped at the nearby Ned Hotel. Mr Pishevar was questioned before being released under investigation.
In June he went to the High Court to prevent the British media identifying him in connection with the case and succeeded in gaining a wide-ranging injunction.
A few weeks later City of London Police confirmed in a statement that the investigation had been dropped and there would be no further action taken against the man.
The force said: “A 43-year-old man
‘Mr Pishevar was briefly detained and swiftly exonerated after an untrue allegation of wrongdoing’
from San Francisco was initially arrested on suspicion of rape before being released under investigation.
“The investigation was completed and reviewed. There was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction therefore no further action was taken against the suspect.”
Mr Pishevar is currently suing a firm called Definers Public Affairs, claiming they have been orchestrating a covert smear campaign against him.
In court papers lodged in California the businessman has alleged that the company has spread false rumours, including suggestions he paid money to his accuser to have the rape case dropped.
In a statement issued last week his spokesman said: “Mr Pishevar is informed that several false rumours have been spread about him, including that he purportedly paid money to settle the claim.
“That is categorically false. It is because of false rumours like this that [he] was compelled to bring this legal action against Definers to ensure that his reputation is not destroyed and that the truth will always prevail.”
A spokesman for Definers vehemently denied the claims and in a statement said the allegations against them were “completely false”. It said: “His claims are delusional, we have never engaged in any of the actions he outlined in this complaint, and Definers has never done any work with regards to [him].”