...And her former partner ‘gave his girlfriend £28,500 of free dresses’

FASHION boss Michael Russo has been accused of ordering staff to give his girlfriend free couture dresses.

Paul Appleton, an administrator for the collapsed fashion house Ralph & Russo, claimed Mr Russo instructed staff at the company’s Dubai boutique to ‘provide items worth £28,500 free of charge to his girlfriend’.

Tamara Ralph, Mr Russo’s former business partner, has also claimed in a statement to the High Court that in September 2019 she suspected that Mr Russo ‘had put aside haute couture dresses for a girlfriend to borrow’.

She claimed that she received ‘a number of abusive messages’ after confronting Mr Russo. Legal documents seen by this newspaper earlier this year claimed Ms Ralph and Mr Russo’s professional relationship disintegrated because Mr Russo bullied and harassed her after she attempted to stop him plundering vast sums from the company.

Now a further statement submitted by Ms Ralph alleged that Mr Russo took £100,000 in cash out of the business in February last year.

And the following month, she claimed, he charged the cost of three first-class flights to Dubai ‘and the cost of several hotels and apartments for friends, despite the fact that there was nothing to indicate that the trip had anything to do with the company’.

She claimed that he again ‘responded with a stream of abusive messages’ when she challenged him.

Mr Russo said in a statement last night: ‘The allegations positioned by my estranged partner are framed by profound bias. I am not facing any legal litigation for my conduct.

‘When the time is right, I will robustly defend my reputation and recount the truth. I continue to have the utmost respect and admiration for Tamara.’