Tory’s bitter family row over £27m food empire
Directors (including his brother) claim MP lives rent free in firm’s £1.5m house... ...he accuses them of fraud and theft – but police drop investigation
TORY MP Andrew Bridgen is embroiled in an extraordinary row with his family’s farming empire after accusing his brother and other directors of fraud while allegedly failing to pay rent to live in a £1.5 million house owned by the company.
The 54-year-old has levelled accusations of theft and fraud against the directors of the AB Produce group – a vegetables business which bears his initials and where his younger brother Paul is managing director.
The outspoken Brexiteer, who ran AB Produce before becoming the MP for North West Leicestershire in 2010, reported the fraud allegations to police in April 2018 and launched legal action against the company, in which he has a 45 per cent stake.
KPMG quit as the company’s auditors in February, saying it had been unable to ‘obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence’ to sign off the accounts.
The Derbyshire-based firm has strenuously denied Bridgen’s allegations and claims he owes the company more than £100,000 in rent for living in a £1.5 million five-bedroom house owned by the group.
Now, in a blow to Bridgen’s claims, The Mail on Sunday can reveal the police have dropped their probe into AB Produce, which supplies potatoes and other vegetables to supermarkets and has 150 staff.
In a letter to employees and customers, seen by this newspaper, the board of AB Produce expressed relief that the probe had ended and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
It said: ‘This supports the directors’ resolute stance of there being a complete absence of any evidence to support the unfounded ... allegations made by Andrew Bridgen.
‘Despite the directors’ absolute assertion that no wrongdoing had occurred, it is a genuine relief to know that Leicestershire Police have now reached this conclusion with the full support of the Crown Prosecution Service bringing an end to this unwelcome and unwarranted distraction.’
The board said the company had suffered ‘ reputational damage’, adding: ‘ It remains a matter of speculation what Andrew Bridgen’s motivations might have been in making these allegations. What is indisputable is the extreme angst this action has caused to employees ... and of course the directors who were the subject of serious allegations of theft and fraud questioning their integrity and that of the corporate operations.’
A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said: ‘On April 24, 2018, we received a report of fraud relating to a company in North West Leicestershire and an investigation was carried out into the allegation made.
‘ As part of this investigation extensive enquiries were carried out and no further action is being taken by Leicestershire Police. All relevant parties have been informed of this decision.’
The MP’s legal action against AB Produce, where his brother Paul also owns a 45 per cent stake, is ongoing. In turn, the politician faces a separate legal action from the company over alleged unpaid rent for living in the Old Vicarage, complete with swimming pool in 5.5 acres of land in the Leicestershire village of Coleorton.
Bridgen Investments – a property company within the AB Produce empire – bought the property for £1.5 million from the MP in 2012, documents on Land Registry show.
Bridgen lives there with his second wife, Serbian opera singer Nevena Pavlovic, creator of the Wives of Westminster lifestyle blog, whom he married in 2017.
He moved into the Old Vicarage in 2015 after divorcing from his first wife Jackie, with whom he has two sons. It had been their family home until they bought a luxury property with a swimming pool and tennis court in 2011 for £2.1 million, which they sold in 2015 after their split.
Accounts filed in June on Companies House show Bridgen Investments claims Andrew Bridgen owes more than £100,000 in rent from living at the Old Vicarage. The MP is disputing that claim. Accounts for AB Produce, one of the companies in the group, claim Andrew Bridgen still uses a company car and that it ‘provides certain other personal benefits’ to him. It said the taxable value of these benefits, including the car, was £81,000 for the three years to 2017.
Bridgen Investments accounts for the year ended May 2018 had to be filed without being audited.
The company said: ‘Once the current audit tender process has been c o mpleted a nd new a udi t o r s appointed, it is the directors’ intention to file an audited version of these financial statements.’
Accounts for AB Produce Trading, the parent company of the group, and i t s subsidiary AB Produce are overdue and should have been filed by May this year.
The directors have claimed the fraud allegations have caused delays to filing previous accounts. The last accounts for the group for the year ended May 2017 showed revenues hit £27.2 million. But it made a pre-tax loss of £244,000.
The company blamed ‘significant challenges in the post-Brexit era’ including the flow of goods and labour from Europe, which it said was hurting operating margins.
Yesterday, AB Produce declined to comment beyond the letter.
Lawyers for the MP said: ‘Andrew Bridgen is pursuing a civil claim in the High Court and, given that proceedings are ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment at this time.’