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Howard Lutnick’s BGC Group has brought contempt of court proceedings against a former UK employee, accusing him of hiding assets after he took part in a £24mn scheme to defraud the US broker dealer.
Lawyers acting for the company told the High Court in London that tax adviser Michael Viney had breached an earlier freezing order on his assets, including by selling a property in Barcelona without disclosing it.
BGC, which is led by billionaire Lutnick — one of Donald Trump’s closest allies and co-chair of his transition team — previously claimed that it had been the victim of a “massive fraud” perpetrated by Viney and another UK employee, Xavier Alcan.
The company reached a settlement with Alcan earlier this year. Edward Levey KC, representing BGC, told the court on Monday that Alcan “defended the matter right up to the eve of trial” but the claim was then settled on terms that he pay “significant sums” to BGC.
Viney has previously admitted he was liable to pay BGC. According to the company, he was told to pay about £24mn under the terms of a court order in May 2022. It served a contempt of court application on him in June.
Levey claimed on Monday that there was “overwhelming evidence” that Viney was in breach of a court injunction.
In written submissions, he said that Viney had sold a property in Barcelona without BGC’s knowledge and also “failed to disclose” a £1.26mn investment.
The company had previously accused Viney and Alcan of diverting payments that were intended to be between BGC and other legitimate sources, mainly HMRC, to bank accounts in numerous jurisdictions.
BGC said Viney used a “trusted position” within the company to conceal 32 separate fraudulent payments, including by doctoring emails. Some of the proceeds had been used to buy properties, jewellery and other luxury items, the group claimed.
A hearing on Monday was adjourned until the new year as Viney lacked legal representation.
Viney, who appeared before the judge without counsel, was not asked for his substantive response to the contempt application. He said he was making his best efforts to secure legal aid solicitors.
In written submissions, Levey claimed that the Barcelona property had been sold for €253,800 and that the proceeds were paid into a previously undisclosed bank account. Some of the money had been recovered but a large chunk had not been, he maintained.
Levey also contended that there had been a “dissipation” of income generated from rental properties in the UK and Florida and that Viney had been “planning to get his hands” on an undisclosed investment and would have done so had BGC “not put a stop to it when it learned of its existence”.
Lutnick, who also heads Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, personally gave more than $10mn to Trump’s re-election campaign.