Beautician ‘forgot’ signing over £625k property to her ex
A BEAUTY treatment businesswoman has lost a court battle over her former home after “forgetting” she had signed away her share of the £625,000 property to her ex-husband.
Camila Ryder, 55, accused Elie Charbel of using a “crude forgery” to deprive her of her share after they split in 2008.
But after a two-day hearing at Central London County Court, Judge Alan Johns QC ruled the flat must be signed over to Mr Charbel, 52, and ordered Ms Ryder to pay his legal costs of up to £31,000.
The pair, who have a daughter, once worked next door to each other and owned properties in Britain, Lebanon and Colombia.
Mr Charbel produced a written agreement which showed their former family home is his alone. The stylist said Ms Ryder signed it in 2009, promising she would transfer her share of their flat in Kensal Rise, north-west London.
She later claimed the signature on the document was not hers.
Mr Charbel’s barrister, Richard Colbey, said Ms Ryder’s forgery claim was “bonkers” and the judge dismissed her contention, saying she had merely “forgotten”
she made an agreement with Mr Charbel. The hairdresser said he “was trusting her that she was going to honour the agreement”.
But Ms Ryder – formerly known as Olga Rocio Arango – told him to “make her an offer” for her share when he asked her about the agreement years later. Mr Colbey denied the signature was a “crude forgery” and said: “It would be absolutely bonkers for him to have forged it.”
Judge Johns said a hand-writing expert found there was only “weak” evidence it was not hers.
“I have come to the conclusion that Ms Ryder did sign the agreement,” he said. “The agreement provides for Mr Charbel to keep one UK property, while Ms Ryder was to keep another.
“What has happened here is not that Mr Charbel has been engaged in forgery, but that Miss Ryder has forgotten signing the agreement.”