Kroll Advisory is suing Lloyds Banking Group and its Bank of Scotland for £285m
The administrator of Arena TV, Kroll Advisory, has alleged that Arena’s owner Richard Yeowart and co-director Robert Hopkinson misappropriated “proceeds of asset-backed lending in excess of £1.2 billion with over 55 different lenders”.
The Times has reported that Kroll is now suing Lloyds Banking Group and its Bank of Scotland for £285 million, claiming that they allowed the directors to perpetrate a “substantial and wide-ranging fraud” against multiple lenders. According to court documents, of 8,196 assets with loans outstanding against them, only 66 have been verified as existing.
Lloyds Banking Group has stated: “Lloyds Banking Group intends to defend the claim. As this matter is now the subject of on-going litigation, we don’t intend to comment further at this stage.”
Arena TV collapsed in 2021 with over £280 million in debt - which you can find more information on here. Hopkinson and Yeowart went on trial in France last year, with Yeowart trialed in absentia as he was still on the run. The AFP reported at the time that gold bullion, cash, two cars and two homes worth a total of €1.4 million (£1.2m) were seized by police, as well as fake identity cards, counterfeit driving licences, and wigs.
The Serious Fraud Office also opened an investigation into the matter, arresting and questioning two people in 2022 and searching three other sites. This investigation is still ongoing.
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