Supercar gamble to end in court tussle over £1m claim
Trader is suing former business partner over alleged dues
Patrick Sawer, Sarah Limbrick and Evie Kerr WHEN City trader Petro Levchenko met Karan Abbott in a shisha bar in London’s Maida Vale, he was immediately taken with the businessman’s passion for classic cars.
The 29-year-old was even more impressed when Mr Abbott took him to some of London’s smartest nightclubs, including Tramp and Annabel’s, and showed off the Lamborghini and Ferraris he drove.
Soon the pair came up with the idea of combining Mr Levchenko’s experience as a trader in new digital currencies, and Mr Abbott’s understanding of the car market, to make more of the other thing they both appear to love – money.
They agreed to spend hundreds of thousands on Ferraris, McLarens and Aston Martins, on the gamble that the vehicles would increase in resale value and make them a substantial profit.
But the pair are now at each other’s throats following the fall in the value of the luxury car market as a result of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Mr Levchenko is suing Mr Abbott for as much as £1 million after claiming his former business partner owes him returns on his investment.
He claims he lost £770,000 in a series of property schemes and car loans as a result of Mr Abbott’s mishandling of what should have been lucrative deals.
For his part, Mr Abbott, 34, maintains Mr Levchenko reneged on his agreement to jointly fund the purchase of the cars and left him having to make monthly repayments, some as much as £7,000, on his own.
The dispute promises to culminate in a legal battle at the High Court, where it is set to be heard later this year.
Despite working at Credit Suisse at the time and boasting of “an outstanding track record of performance”, Mr Levchenko failed to take any investment advice in respect of these deals.
According to a writ lodged with the High Court, that did not stop him transferring large sums of money to Mr Abbott, apparently without making proper paper records.
Mr Levchenko’s solicitors claim that the string of financial transactions began with him lending Mr Abbott £150,000 for a £1million flat at Quadrangle Tower, near Hyde Park, in January 2017.
Mr Levchenko believed he would earn interest of 3.75 per cent a month on the loan, which he believed would be repaid within three months.
But although he received the interest due for three months, he claims to have received nothing since and that the loan has not been repaid.
The writ alleges that Mr Abbott, who lives in a £1.25million flat near Marble Arch and has property interests in India, also per-
‘You need to hold on to these cars for at least five years before selling them’
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suaded him to invest in an £875,000 Ferrari 365 GTC, saying it was only one of 19 made in the world.
But Mr Abbott claimed that Mr Levchenko knew what he was getting into and reneged on his part of the deal without waiting for his investment to make a return.
He said he was left paying £4,400 a month on an Aston Martin DB6, £3,500 on a McLaren 720s, and until recently £7,100 on the Ferrari 365, before selling it at a £200,000 loss.
“I completely deny his claims,” Mr Abbott said. I’ve been stuck with the cars we invested in together and left to pay the monthly repayments on the financing myself,” he said.
“He entered in an arrangement with me and pulled out after eight months.
You need to hold on to these cars for at least five years before selling them if you are to recoup your investment.”