Catch up TV

Episode 21 May 2018

Property tycoon Robbie Tchenguiz was once among Britain's super-rich. As one of the 'one per cent', this flamboyant tycoon amassed a fortune worth billions in the days when it was possible to have £16bn of assets - and yet £13bn of debt. But over the last ten years, Iranian-born Robbie's once gilded life - complete with superyacht, private jets and fast cars - has been in meltdown. He lost billions in the financial crash and then faced professional humiliation when arrested on suspicion of fraud. Though he was exonerated of any wrongdoing, today his empire is in tatters, and he is now fighting to save his home - a mansion next to London's Royal Albert Hall, worth an estimated £20million.\n\nTen years ago, Robbie's success in the City meant he was viewed as something of a god - a dealer with the Midas touch. Robbie and his brother Vincent were notorious for their extraordinary deals, each worth hundreds of millions. But it was an empire based on debt, and these were the boom years. What goes up, often comes down. Robbie lost around 80 per cent of his net worth in the 2008 financial crash - though his real problem was to be a £1.4bn loan from an Icelandic bank that collapsed. It was this that led to his arrest in 2011.\n\nSince then, Robbie has been at war, fighting everyone from the Icelandic bank Kaupthing to the bank's receivers, Grant Thornton, who swooped across his empire, trying to recoup money for the creditors of the bank. And then there are his former trustees, Investec Trust Guernsey, who ran his offshore empire - and last but not least, the Serious Fraud Office, who arrested him. \n\nIt took three years for the brothers to clear their names. They successfully sued for wrongful arrest, receiving a public apology and millions in compensation. But it is far from over. Robbie claims he is the victim of injustice, and he has been fighting the consequences for his business and family over the years. Robbie's war is run from his Mayfair office. It used to be full of people doing massive property deals. Now it is full of lawyers. He has his own in-house team and is spending up to a £1million a month. Robbie is conducting the biggest private litigation by any individual in the UK.\n\nBut this is also a man with a colourful life. Robbie and Vincent were notorious as the playboy brothers with their raucous yacht parties in Cannes and St Tropez. Over the years, Robbie's girlfriends have included American actress Caprice Bourret and reality TV star Chloe Sims. Today his girlfriend is 27-year-old Polish Instagram star Julia Dybowska. Thirty years younger than Robbie, she moved into the house some months ago. She takes thousands of photos, many of them in Robbie's home, and posts them online. She is known as a 'living Barbie.' None of that might be a problem except for Robbie's estranged wife Heather, who, along with their two children, has ended up living in the house with them. It is an unusual arrangement and one of the consequences of Robbie's financial problems. But Robbie's focus is on his litigation. As he faces losing his home in a final appeal in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, his sister, multimillionairess and socialite Lisa Tchenguiz, thinks it is time for him to stop. But this is not a man who gives up. Robbie vows to fight on.

Source: BBC 2