The Phones 4U billionaire John Caudwell has accused his former business partner and protege of being an “amazing liar” who presided over a “reign of terror” at the wealth management firm they co-founded before their close relationship soured.
Caudwell told the high court on Monday that he had “loved” his former business partner Nathalie Dauriac but had lost faith in her after allegedly discovering that she falsified £33,000 worth of expenses claims, including a personal trip to Málaga and gifts for her family.
Dauriac, a former Coutts banker, claims she was wrongly dismissed in 2014 from Signia Wealth, the financial management company that she co-founded with Caudwell, and should have received at least £12m for her stake in the business.
Caudwell disputed Dauriac’s claim that he had manipulated her out of her job as boss of Signia Wealth and forced her to sell her 49% stake in the business to him for just £2.
Both parties deny the allegations made against them.
“Ms Dauriac is the most amazing liar I’ve ever met in my life,” said Caudwell. “She’s Machiavellian and the vast majority of everything she says is a complete fabrication.”
He also accused Dauriac of making claims against him in court to ensure they would be publicly reported without risk of a defamation lawsuit.
Caudwell said he had since been told by staff at Signia Wealth that she “wielded a reign of terror” in which she threatened to smear people who crossed her with allegations about drugs and “illicit sex”.
Thomas Plewman QC, acting for Dauriac, questioned Caudwell’s claims that he had become concerned about her as early as 2013 after she alleged that a mutual business acquaintance had threatened to break her fingers.
Caudwell said he found this hard to believe and was also concerned about her role as chief executive of Signia because of poor financial performance.
Plewman pointed out that Caudwell increased the amount of his money held at the company from about £350m to more than £750m between 2013 and 2014, despite his apparent concerns.
Caudwell said he had continued backing Dauriac out of “misguided friendship”.
Plewman said Caudwell was “making it up to suit your case”, adding testimony that was not included in his witness statement.
The entrepreneur and philanthropist, who banked more than £1.2bn in 2006 after selling the Phones 4U business he started, previously told the court that his memory may be affected as he suffers from Lyme disease.
Plewman told the court that trips that Dauriac and Caudwell had taken to the Seychelles and the ski resort of Vail, Colorado, had not merely been holidays as friends but also involved business discussions.
He said this meant that some of Dauriac’s expenses claimed for the trips were legitimate expenses incurred working for Signia.
Caudwell said he had invited Dauriac on holiday as a friend and had not wanted to talk business but that Dauriac could be “quite forceful”.
Plewman said Dauriac would rather have spent holidays with her family but instead went abroad with Caudwell for business reasons that warranted the expense claims. Caudwell responded: “Then why did she tell me that she loved me?”
Dauriac has previously said that she believes Caudwell ordered an investigation into her only after she raised concerns that he had used false invoices to avoid VAT.
Caudwell, a vocal critic of tax avoidance, strongly denies this. He also said that he believed his former protege had been trying to damage his reputation “all over London”. He said a friend had reported her as saying: “What’s that arsehole John Caudwell doing stealing [Dauriac’s] shares?’
The case continues.
