Ecclestone’s ex Stunt sullied my reputation, says financier
JAMES STUNT’S divorce from Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone was so acrimonious that he swore at her billionaire father, Bernie, in court and made a gun gesture.
Now, I can reveal that the gold bullion dealer is being sued in the High Court for libel and malicious falsehood by a wealthy financier, Bijan Burnard, who claims one of his clients pulled out of a £74 million deal because of lurid allegations Stunt made against him.
According to court documents, Stunt, 40, made a series of defamatory claims about Burnard online, calling him a criminal and accusing him of making fraudulent bank cards to create a fake ID.
Burnard, 27, alleges that Petra’s ex accused him of lying about being a billionaire, his age, and even suggested he tried to bring cocaine into Stunt’s home to try to entrap him into committing money laundering, as well as illegally recording him.
Burnard denies all of this, insisting he’s never been arrested, let alone convicted, of any offence, did not buy illegal drugs, has never used fake documents and did not try to entrap Stunt.
He had visited Stunt’s home in his role as chief strategic officer with SCG Trust to carry out checks after Stunt wanted to open a bank account. Stunt invited him to stay to dinner. However, following a disagreement, Stunt is alleged to have assaulted him and seized his two mobile phones, his bank and loyalty cards and his driving licence.
When Burnard returned to retrieve his belongings, Stunt returned his mobiles through the front door, but one was smashed. He claims his driving licence was discovered later by police after they’d been called.
Burnard says that following Stunt’s claims about him online, he was treated with suspicion by colleagues, spoken to by managers and faced restrictions on business travel as well as whom he was permitted to meet in a work capacity.
He says the allegations led to the investor pulling out of his plans to invest £74 million.
Stunt, who is now going out with Helena Robinson, pictured, hit the headlines in 2019 when the Mail on Sunday revealed that he had lent Prince Charles paintings which were hung on the walls of the royal stately home, Dumfries House.
The ‘masterpieces’ later turned out to be fakes.
Stunt tells me he plans to contest Burnard’s claims, adding: ‘Why would I ever settle?’