Socialite James Stunt ‘refused to read emails’ and was a ‘mere figurehead’ at the firm accused of being involved in a £266m money laundering scam, a court heard today.
Leeds Crown Court later heard how, despite this, it was ‘inconceivable’ that Mr Stunt, 40, was unaware his staff had counted £28million in cash in his Stunt & Co office.
The socialite spent ‘astonishing’ sums while married to Petra Ecclestone including more than £800,000 on Lamborghinis and turned to a criminal enterprise when the ‘river of money was running dry’ with the break-up of their marriage, the court heard.
Prosecutor Nicholas Clarke, QC, told the court Stunt’s ‘own personal finances are shrouded in mystery.’
‘He [Stunt] refuses to have email and does not write letters or read things’, he alleged.
‘He delegates to others and asks for salient facts. On very rare occasions, Petra would receive emails on his behalf. He said he prefers text and phone.’
It comes as ex-F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone was asked by his then son-in-law James Stunt to put up a $10million guarantee for a a gold bullion business ‘that made no commercial sense’ after he started running out of money when his marriage to Petra collapsed, a court has heard.
The bombshell claim emerged during Stunt’s £266million money laundering trial where he is in the dock at Leeds Cloth Hall Court with eight others.
Stunt’s lack of genuine personal wealth meant he got his billionaire father-in-law Bernie Ecclestone to provide a $10m guarantee to…
