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Scot Young the property tycoon has been jailed for contempt of court (17 January 2013)

Date: 17/01/2013
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Scot Young the property tycoon has been jailed for contempt of court

He was led away in handcuffs to start his six month prison term yesterday for not complying with the court orders in his divorce proceeding.

In earlier proceedings concerning Mr Young's application for the return of his passport – Young v Young [2012] EWHC 138 (Fam) – Mr Justice Mostyn had said that the husband was grossly in contempt in relation to his maintenance obligations contempt in relation to his disclosure obligations which existed. The obligation to disclose lied with the husband and not with the wife the judge had said.

The ongoing battle since last six years had not only exhausted the patience of his wife Michelle, 48, the mother of his two teenage daughters but had also put the patience of Mr Justice Moor to test. Mr Justice Moor sentenced him on two counts saying that Young was given three opportunities to comply with court orders to disclose his reputed £400m fortune which went ‘missing’.

He said both contempt’s were serious in nature and were so serious that a fine was would be of no avail as he would not pay even that the judge told Young. The court was told that one explanation provided by the businessman was absurd and the other was next to useless.
The Young’s once shared a jet set lifestyle was said to have made his fortune as a fixer for British and Russian billionaires, as well as buying and selling prestigious properties around the world. But after he got separated in 2006, Mrs Young claimed that her husband “secreted enormous assets” and left her and their daughters Scarlet and Sasha, now 19 and 17, destitute.
But Mr Young was taken to the court by Mrs Young though he kept asserting that he had lost all his fortune in a failed Moscow property deal. In 2009, a judge ordered Young to pay his wife £27,500 a month maintenance, an amount which has now accumulated to almost £1m.
Despite repeated attempts to get the tycoon to disclose his finances he claimed he was bankrupt and penniless. Mrs Young’s family lawyer said that Young had given the court the “runaround” and had not given any explanation to his wife about what happened to the £400m fortune.
And even after having pleaded guilty he seemed to have enjoyed a opulent lifestyle the lawyer added
Young told the judge he had tried his best to comply with the orders and sought for another 28 days to comply. He claimed that he was under greater surveillance being harassed by detectives employed by his wife which made him unwell and was hospitalized and living on gifts from friends to cover his living expenses.
However, the judge ruled that Young’s time was up. That he had not complied and there has been a flagrant and deliberate contempt over a very long period of time.
And he said neither a fine nor a suspended sentence would be a sufficient penalty. Mr Justice Moor said the couple’s competing claims would still have to be argued at a trial – due to take place later this year.

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