Daily Mail

Stunt ‘has £1m gambling debt – and plans to settle it using Picasso that he loaned to Prince Charles’

- By Sam Greenhill Chief Reporter

JAMES Stunt is being chased over a £1million ‘gambling debt’ – and claimed he will find the cash by using Picasso and Monet paintings he has lent Prince Charles.

The playboy former husband of Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone allegedly ran up the seven-figure loss with a spread-betting firm.

To pay off his debt, he proposed borrowing £70million secured against a fine art collection he has loaned the Prince of Wales, court documents show.

The portfolio comprises masterpiec­es by Constable, Monet, Picasso, Dali and Van Dyck worth £225million which gold bullion magnate Mr Stunt lent to the prince’s stately home, Dumfries House.

Mr Stunt is being pursued for £1,002,103 by CMC Spreadbet, a City trading firm which claims he ran up the loss by betting on movements in the currency markets.

CMC is suing the self-styled billionair­e at the High Court for the million-pound sum plus £219-a-day interest. The spread-betting firm claims he repeatedly promised to pay back the cash last year, suggesting he would take out a £ 70million ‘ loan secured against Dumfries House art portfolio’. He also proposed ‘liquidatin­g’ a £650,000 wine collection.

Mr Stunt, 37, loaned the famous artworks when Prince Charles was restoring the £40million Scottish stately home. Last year the playboy boasted to Tatler he had loaned of Velazquez, ‘works from Monet, the likes Van Dyck, Dali, Picasso and Constable over a two-year period. There’s a Chagall went there recently’.

The millionair­e showed the magazine a series of framed royal letters of gratitude on display in his Mayfair office.

The £ 1million ‘gambling debt’ is one of several demands faced by Mr Stunt, who has three children with Miss Ecclestone. The couple divorced in 2017.

His gold bullion firm Stunt & Co is facing insolvency over £89,000 allegedly owed to Formula 1 World Championsh­ip Ltd, a company formerly owned father by Bernie. Miss Ecclestone’s Mr Stunt recently staved off his company’s winding- up over another £19,000 debt by settling the bill – only to see it replaced by the £ 89,000 demand.

If he fails to pay, he faces the indignity of his company being declared insolvent by a High Court judge. He is disputing the claim.

The company bankruptcy proceeding­s are a dramatic fall from grace for the businessma­n who was once worth £3billion.

Last month, the Daily Mail revealed Mr Stunt has been hit by a ‘proceeds of crime’ order that freezes his assets including several homes and a fleet of supercars. A judge gave him a £1,000-a-week spending limit and banned him from drinking his own fine wines, although Mr Stunt is teetotal.

The order – obtained by the Crown Prosecutio­n Service – described him as ‘the Alleged Offender’. Stunt has not been charged and it is not clear why the order was made. His assets were not seized, but their use was restricted and he must not dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of them.

Mr Stunt has often stoked controvers­y. During his £5billion divorce, he was claimed to have rubbed cocaine on his gums during a court hearing.

On the same day in June 2017, it is also claimed he barged into his father-in-law, the ex-Formula 1 supremo, and made a gun gesture towards him in court. He made an obscene gesture at photograph­ers outside the hearing.

Mr Stunt has ‘categorica­lly denied’ these ‘ completely ridiculous’ allegation­s.

He told the Mail that CMC’s £ 1million demand was ‘not a debt at all’, claiming: ‘It’s been settled and it’s in hand. Of course I can pay it, but it’s all resolved, in hand, amicably.’ Asked if he had actually paid the money, he said: ‘At present, it’s not viable, but not because of any lack of funds.’

Speaking of the CMC £1million, he said: ‘It’s not gambling, it’s not blackjack, it’s commoditie­s. You can say I’m broke, you can call me a billionair­e, you can call me a millionair­e... but I will not be going bankrupt, I’ll say that now.’

‘I will not go bankrupt’

 ??  ?? Boasts: James Stunt with some of his art collection
Boasts: James Stunt with some of his art collection
 ??  ?? Divorce: Mr Stunt with ex-wife Petra Ecclestone
Divorce: Mr Stunt with ex-wife Petra Ecclestone

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