Wife of Russian oligarch asks UK court to jail him over unpaid legal fees
By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) -The wife of a Russian oil tycoon asked a judge at the High Court in London on Wednesday to jail her husband, alleging he had repeatedly failed to pay her legal fees in their multi-million dollar divorce case.
Mikhail Kroupeev, the non-executive chairman of energy company Gulfsands, is accused by his wife Elena Kroupeeva of refusing to comply with numerous courts orders following the collapse of their 36-year marriage.
According to submissions from her legal team to the court, the couple separated in "tempestuous" circumstances after Kroupeeva discovered in 2023 her husband had for most of the last 20 years been living a double life with a secret second family in Russia.
She began proceedings for a financial settlement in July 2024, and in February, Kroupeev was ordered to pay just over 195,000 pounds towards her legal fees.
But her lawyers said he had failed to comply with that and other subsequent orders demanding he reveal the true extent of the wealth from his business empire.
He now owed her more than 837,000 pounds, they said, while a freezing order had also been made covering 38 million pounds ($51 million) of his assets. Her lawyers said the judge should now issue an order for his imprisonment for contempt of court.
"It is suggested that nothing short of a period of imprisonment will be an effective punishment," her lawyers said in their court submission.
Kroupeev's lawyer Michael Glaser said the allegations about their marriage and alleged affairs should not have been made.
"Not only are they not relevant, they are denied," he told the court, saying the contested court order was subject to an appeal.
However, the judge rejected his attempt to have the case adjourned.
The couple, who are both Russian nationals but have British citizenship, moved to Britain in 1993. Kroupeeva's lawyer Justin Warshaw said Kroupeev had made his fortune through his connections with Yuri Shafranik, a former Russian energy minister.
As well as Gulfsands, which Kroupeeva's lawyers said had a contract to export oil from Syria, his business interests included Jupiter Energy, which is involved in oil and gas exports in Kazakhstan, and Waterford Finance which specialises in oil, gas and other energy projects.
"They have been a very wealthy family for a very long time," Justin Warshaw, Kroupeeva's lawyer told the court, saying they lived an "opulent lifestyle".
The couple's assets were extensive, including a 15 million pound house in north London, luxury homes in Portugal and Turkey, and a portfolio of properties in Russia worth 10 million pounds, her lawyers said. The couple also took luxurious holidays that involved flying by private jet, they said.
"A large motivation for travelling privately would be to ensure that the family dogs could go on holiday with the family," her legal team said in their submission.
While Kroupeeva was in court on Wednesday, her husband, who is in Cyprus, attended remotely by videolink. The hearing continues.
($1 = 0.7432 pounds)
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