Fraud investigators have their hands on the communications of some of the City’s biggest players after seizing sackfuls of documents from the billionaire brothers Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz.
Experts will this week begin to index and examine e-mails, confidential files and Post-It notes taken from the offices of the property and finance tycoons.
In one of its most prominent investigations yet, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has obtained material that will help to explain some of the relationships of leading figures in the economic crash.
The seized communications could include details of the brothers’ dealings with figures such as Peter Cummings, whose risky corporate lending nearly bankrupted HBOS.
The SFO is preparing further raids as part of an international investigation into the collapse of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing, but no details are known. A spokesman refused to comment.
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The hard-partying Tchenguiz brothers have struck awe into the City of London over the past decade with audacious deals giving them stakes in businesses such as Sainsbury’s. Vincent Tchenguiz and his investment vehicle donated £124,000 to the Conservative Party while Robert and his vehicle gave £70,000.
Mr Cummings was a major player in the property boom. As well as Robert Tchenguiz, his star investors have included Sir Tom Hunter, the philanthropist and retail magnate, and Sir Philip Green, the owner of Bhs.
It took 135 police and SFO staff two days to carry away all the computers, fax machines and paperwork after raids on two business premises and eight homes on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Fraud investigators have realised that it will take months to examine the material.
Records of phone calls and faxes are also believed to have been seized.
One search focused on the fifth floor of Leconfield House, in the heart of Mayfair, the base of the investment vehicle R20, set up by Robert Tchenguiz, 50.
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Another took place a stone’s throw away at 54-year-old Vincent’s Consensus Group, housed in a block between Curzon Street and Park Lane.
The seized material, now stored in a strongroom, could amount to a treasure trove of financial excess from the decadent Noughties.
The SFO is supposed to ignore any documentation unrelated to its investigation into the collapse of the Kaupthing bank.Any evidence, or suspected evidence, found by the investigators will be handed over to lawyers to see how it can be used. To ensure fairness, the investigators must barcode every document taken and provide copies for the suspects.
Neither of the Iranian-born Tchenguiz brothers has been charged and both were released on bail. They deny any wrongdoing and say they are co-operating fully with the investigation and are confident of being cleared.
The SFO investigation is looking at the collapse of Kaupthing. Robert Tchenguiz was its largest borrower, with loans of £1.7 billion, while he also had an interest in its equity.
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David Rowland, the former Tory treasurer, went on to create a business named Banque Havilland, which was opened by Prince Andrew, out of the Luxembourg assets of the failed Icelandic bank.
The Times yesterday asked Mr Rowland’s son Jonathan whether his father was helping the SFO with its inquiries, as a possible witness or victim of the circumstances surrounding Kaupthing’s collapse.Jonathan, who serves as chief executive officer of the Luxembourg bank, said: “My father has never spoken to the press and never will.
“The SFO are not investigating Banque Havilland and have never contacted us in relation to any of the current press speculation and/or reports.”