Investigators trying to claw back money from Scotland’s biggest bankrupt businessman Gregory King have seized a £1million property. The controversial ex-lawyer went bust in 2017 with estimated personal debts of around £120million following the collapse of his hedge fund firm Heather Capital.
Insolvency experts have been conducting a global hunt for assets which can be sold to pay King’s creditors. As well as the luxury home in Glasgow, Begbies Traynor has identified a £5.5million Marbella villa with links to the former lawyer.
The four-bed home in the affluent Whitecraigs area on the outskirts of Glasgow was bought by a Gibraltar-based property firm in 2008 for £1million. In October liquidators finally took possession of the property, which was put up for sale at offers over £675,000 and was sold last week, with proceeds going to pay off King’s debts.
Before his bankruptcy King was said to have enjoyed a lavish lifestyle owning a Mercedes, Range Rover and several Harley-Davidsons. A creditors’ report obtained by the Sunday Mail said: “As part of our inquiries, a number of potential assets/claims have been identified. One of the most significant of those is in Scotland.
“This property is owned by a company registered in Gibraltar named Belvedere Avenue Properties. Upon review of the files relating to this company, it is our view that this entity is 100 per cent owned by the bankrupt.”
A source told the Sunday Mail: “The recovery of the house in Whitecraigs after so many years is a major coup by Begbies Traynor.
“Its sale should enable it to return more money to the creditors.”
Begbies Traynor is also targeting other parts of a property empire linked to King.
Last year it recovered and sold a £5.5million Marbella hilltop villa on the Costa del Sol, owned by an elderly male member of the King family. Its lawyers claimed the property in the La Zagaleta area had been bought using Heather Capital linked cash given to him by 54-year-old King.
The property neighbours another villa linked to King which was seized in 2018 and sold for £5.1 million, of which £2million has since been returned to creditors.
Adrian Hyde, of Begbies Traynor, said it would continue to pursue King for money owed to creditors. He said: “The property in Glasgow was a good asset to recover.”
King launched Heather Capital in 2005, which attracted about £400million from investors to develop wasteland and derelict buildings in central Scotland.
But in 2010 Heather collapsed, with investors’ cash unaccounted for and the sites lying empty.
An Isle of Man court judgment compared Heather to a Ponzi scheme, made famous by jailed New York financier Bernie Madoff. Ponzis work by using cash from new investors to make bogus returns to earlier investors, giving the illusion of success.
Police launched a fraud probe into Heather Capital in 2013, which resulted in King and three men being reported to the Crown Office before the case was dropped in 2018.
King, from Newton Mearns, Glasgow, denied any wrongdoing.
He could not be contacted for comment.
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