Squire Patton Boggs client, heiress Iya Patarkatshishvili and her husband Yevhen Hunyak won a significant victory over their moth-infested mansion, which they purchased for £32.5 in London.
The property developer, William Woodward-Fisher, was accused of making fraudulent misrepresentations about the property’s condition. In a legal victory, the court ruled in favor of the couple, ordering the seller to take back the property and repay the purchase price plus over £10 million in damages.
Squire Patton Bogg’s provide the details –
In a case that has made front page news in the UK press, including articles in The Guardian, The Times, the BBC and others, a Squire Patton Boggs team led by partners Chris Webber, Julian Ciecierski-Burns and director Tim Flamank have secured a notable victory for long-standing clients Iya Patarkatshishvili (daughter of the late Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatshishvili) and her husband Yevhen Hunyak, in a claim over their £32.5 million purchase of Horbury Villa in Notting Hill, London.
The claim, Iya Patarkatsishvili and Yehven Hunyak v William Woodward-Fisher, concerned a luxury home purchased from the property developer William Woodward-Fisher in May 2019. The court upheld in full our clients’ claim that the defendant made several fraudulent misrepresentations when responding to pre-contract enquiries, to avoid disclosing the existence of a very serious and extensive moth infestation in the insulation of the property.
Having been induced to purchase the property by those misrepresentations, the claimants were granted the unusual remedy of recission of the sale contract. The court ordered the seller to take back the moth-infested property, repay the £32.5 million purchase price and pay over £10 million of additional damages for losses arising from the purchase, interest and legal costs. The bold pursuit of rescission as a remedy and the rejection by the court of the various objections raised by the defendant’s legal team has garnered widespread comment in the UK legal community. The case serves as a reminder of the effective tools available to the UK courts to fully right the wrongs suffered by parties like our clients who have been the victims of fraud in buying high-value assets.
This latest notable success further enhances our leading reputation for acting on high-stakes disputes for high net worth individuals and family offices in the UK courts and internationally. Other recent examples include:
- Advising a family office on claims relating to the mismanagement of a circa US$1 billion private equity fund.
- Acting for an ultra-high net worth individual in claims relating to professional negligence by his former law firm in the course of representation in a shareholder dispute.
- Advising two European family office investment funds in relation to investments in a fintech business that had failed and entered special administration in the UK, including advising on claims for breach of fiduciary duties against former directors of the business.
- Advising a Middle Eastern family office on claims against a Lebanese bank, following the introduction of de facto currency controls in the wake of the Lebanese financial crisis.
- Acting for an ultra-high net worth individual in a dispute over the purchase of a luxury houseboat mooring in West London.
- Acting for a high net worth family in claims arising from the mismanagement of a UK property development joint venture.
- Advising a family office in response to requests for evidence by their former investment managers in relation to US$140 million claims against them by another investment management firm. The family were non-parties to the litigation and were concerned to avoid the disclosure of sensitive personal information in the court proceedings.
- Representing an ultra-high net worth individual in claims against his former law firm in relation to allegations of professional negligence and overbilling, in the course of litigation against other family members concerning the wellbeing of a family member.
- Advising an ultra-high net worth individual in shareholder and board disputes in connection with a pan-European renewable energy development business joint venture with a family office.
If you would like to learn more about our work for family offices, or would like to discuss any matter in confidence, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team.
