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It is uncertain whether to saga involving the U.K’s Serious Fraud Office and Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz is over, as the settlements are far less than the initial asking levels, and there are cryptic references to third parties. While Vincent initially demanded $336 millon and Robert was asking for $168 in damages, and, according to the London Telegraph, said they were going to “butcher” the SFO, Vincent settled with $5 million and his Robert with $2.5 million, even as the legal costs were more double that amount. Robert even buried the hatchet (or rather, the cleaver) he threatened to figuratively wield against the SFO and graciously accepted the organization’s apology and expressed gratitude that his and his brother’s names were cleared.
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“It was never about money, ” a spokesman for Robert told the Telegraph, “It is about clearing his name and finding out what went on with whom and where.”
The brothers were arrested in March, 2011 at 6:30 in a raid concerning which the press were informed beforehand and the victims were not. The press was on hand to photograph Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz, two of Britain’s most high-profile entrepreneurs, over allegations that they might have been involved in the collapse of the Icelandic bank, Kraupthing. By 2012, both brothers were cleared of charges, and a High Court judge criticized the “sheer incompetence” with which the investigation had been carried out and the unlawful methods by which the arrest warrants were secured.
The question remains, is this battle really over? One wonders, especially since the Tchenguiz brothers settled on such a trivial amount compared to their original claims, their rhetoric against the SFO had softened and they suggested they were looking into the possibility that a third party might be involved with the trumped-up arrest. In 2012, it emerged that accountancy firm Grant Thornton provided information that inspired the ill-fated raids, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the firm may be a target of a sequel in the drama of the Tchenguiz brothers. As a foiled character often says at the end of a movie the famously un-final words, “You haven’t heard the last of me, ” so Robert Tzchenguiz said, “It is now quite evident third parties played a major part in this hugely damaging farce. I now intend to join my brother in pursuing those who I believe to be responsible.”
