property (for over 20 years now) which in 1989/1990 suddenly became embroiled in Kevin Maxwell's property disputes in the UK civil courts.
He claimed to be the owner of a large portfoilo of UK properties which he then mortgaged to finance his post-Mirror Group bankrupcy businesses including Telemonde and now Meynard.
I went all the way to the House of Lords to prove that Maxwell did not own my property as he alleged. Through these law suits I got to know over 50 individuals in the UK who were also in the same boat where they were told that their homes were not theirs but Kevin Maxwell's and that he had mortgaged them to the hilt and that the finance companies were now calling in the loans.
My home was claimed ny Kevin Maxwell through a series of dud business deals via his mother, whose younger sister is married to a bent ex-bankrupt London fraudster called Start Gold, a great personal chum of Blair's "Middle East Envoy" Lord Levy.
As you can imagine, litigation is pretty expensive and nasty. Even nastier when a Maxwell is involved. But I won and learned a great deal about the post-Robert Maxwell business empire of his appalling sons Kevin and Ian, whose criminal activities have been protected by Thatcher, Major and now the Blairs.
Here's extracts from The Independent on Sunday about his alleged property assets:
1 AUGUST 2004:
Kevin Maxwell, the son of the disgraced newspaper tycoon, Robert, faces a financial meltdown this week. The High Court will hear an application on Wednesday to wind up Meynard Freres, the finance operation run by Mr Maxwell (pictured right), Malcolm Grumbridge, a long-time associate of the Maxwell family, and Larry Trachtenberg, an American-born financier who ran businesses for Robert Maxwell before his death in 1991. Both Mr Trachtenberg and Mr Maxwell were acquitted of fraud and theft offences relating to the disappearance of more than pounds 400m from the pension funds of companies in the Maxwell empire, which collapsed in late 1991.
The controversial businessman is battling to avoid personal bankruptcy and to stop the winding-up of his main remaining business interest. Both Mr Trachtenberg and Mr Maxwell were acquitted of fraud and theft offences relating to the disappearance of more than pounds 400m from the pension funds of companies in the Maxwell empire, which collapsed in late 1991. Mr Maxwell was declared bankrupt when he was deemed responsible for the losses, but discharged his bankruptcy three years later. Mr Maxwell then set up a telecoms company, Telemonde, which was listed on the Nasdaq market in the US. However, this company, where Mr Trachtenberg was also a director, collapsed two years ago.
Since then, Mr Maxwell has been operating via Meynard Freres, a business he set up in the mid-1990s. It has been active doing financial and property deals. It was involved a few months ago in the purchase of the business and assets of Astec Engineering Services, a Midlands business that had run into difficulty and was restructuring under a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The CVA was supervised by a north London insolvency practitioner, David Rubin. Mr Rubin presented a winding-up petition against Meynard Freres at the High Court on 24 June because of moneys still owning under the Astec deal. A hearing is due on Wednesday and if Meynard does not pay up it is likely to be closed down. No one at Meynard returned calls when contacted about the potential winding- up. Mr Maxwell faces being declared bankrupt before this happens. Judge Michael Payne at Oxford Crown Court gave him 45 days in the middle of June to pay a debt of pounds 1bn owing to a company called Global Investment.
This 45 days runs out tomorrow, and if Mr Maxwell has not paid, Global can take him back to court and have him declared bankrupt. Global's solicitors, Beachcroft Wansbroughs, was not able to confirm that any money had been paid. Global had previously issued a petition to wind up Maynard Freres but that petition was dismissed in May. Despite his financial problems, Mr Maxwell, 45, lives in a 40- room home, Moulsford Manor, overlooking the Thames near Oxford. The house, which is held in the name of his wife, Pandora, was put up for sale with a pounds 3m price tag last year. But after six months on the market it was withdrawn. Family money has enabled all of his six children to be educated privately and the eldest, Tilly, is studying at Oxford. Mr Maxwell is often seen dining at top London restaurants such as Locanda Locatelli and The Wolseley. He was unavailable for comment on his financial problems.
From:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12569477&BRD=1675&PAG=740&dept_id=226966&rfi=6