- Berezovsky sought more than £3bn in damages from Abramovich
- Claimed Chelsea owner 'intimidated' him into selling his shares in Russian oil firm for a fraction of their worth
- Alleged Abramovich broke promise by selling stake in aluminum company
- Judge brands Berezovsky an 'unimpressive and inherently unreliable witness' who gave 'dishonest and deluded' evidence that was 'made up as he went along'
- Berezovsky: 'A legal decision cannot rewrite history. History happened.'
- Four year private court case was Britain's biggest and cost £100m
However, after a costly court defeat against his former friend, the Russian-born businessman displayed an out-of-context smile as if he hadn't a care in the world - almost as relaxed as he was in the holiday shot.
He had just seen more money slip through his fingers than most people could ever dream of owning.
Old friends: Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich holiday in the Spanish resort of Sotogrande in 1996
Follow the lead: Berezovsky and Abramovich, then
both lawmakers, walk in a hall during a break in a session of the State
Duma, Russian parliament's lower house, in Moscow
There was a slight tremor in his hand as he reached across the courtroom desk for a glass of Evian, and the surface of the mineral water shook violently as he raised it to his mouth and took a gulp.
But it was the only visible clue that he had lost his claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich – the most expensive private case ever brought in a British court.
Moments later Mr Berezovsky, 66, attempted to shrug off the devastating financial consequences of his defeat in the ‘battle of the billionaires’ as he left London’s High Court.
He smiled broadly, telling reporters: ‘I feel perfect... Life is life.’
But losing the case has raised serious questions about how much money is left in the bank accounts of the man who was once Britain’s richest asylum-seeker, who fled to London after a spectacular fall-out with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pleased: Roman Abramovitch outside court earlier
in the hearing and right, his accuser Boris Berezovsky arriving today
for the conclusion of the case
Russian oligarch Berezovsky (centre) addresses
the media outside London's High Court today after losing his case
against Abramovich
It also means that he faces a legal bill asking him to pay the lion’s share of the estimated £150million costs for bringing the case. Both sides assembled teams of Britain’s best – and most expensive – legal brains and the bill was estimated to have risen by almost £50 per second for the four-month courtroom trial.
Mr Abramovich’s lawyers told the court they were worried that Mr Berezovsky had already started selling off his multi-million-pound property empire in an apparent attempt to hide his assets from them.
The case centred on a claim that Mr Abramovich exploited Mr Berezovsky’s political connections to build his Sibneft oil business in Russia, but betrayed him after the latter fell out of favour with the Kremlin.
Mr Berezovsky claimed Putin had personally threatened to jail him if he did not relinquish his stake in another business.
An artist's sketch of Berezovsky, (far right),
in the High Court, today shows him receiving the news that he has lost
his damages claim against Abramovich
Entourage: Abramovich (second right) is
surrounded by his legal team and body guards as he leaves the High Court
after one of the first days of the trial last October
A sailing boat passes the luxury yacht 'Pelurus'
owned Abramovich, in the harbour of Luebeck, northern Germany. It was
on board such a vessel that Abramovich and Berezovsky first me
Sport: Abramovich and his wife Irina watch Chelsea football club at Stamford Bridge
She ruled that Mr Berezovsky had failed to prove his claims, and gave a devastating critique of his performance as a witness, saying he had ‘deluded himself into believing his own version of events’.
She said: ‘I found Mr Berezovsky an unimpressive, and inherently unreliable witness, who regarded truth as a transitory, flexible concept which could be moulded to suit his current purposes.
‘At times the evidence which he gave was deliberately dishonest; sometimes he was clearly making his evidence up as he went along... He would have said almost anything to support his case.’
Abramovich, by comparison, was ‘truthful and reliable’, she said. Mr Abramovich, currently the world’s 68th richest man, did not attend court for the hour-long hearing. The 45-year-old had always denied any business partnership with Mr Berezovsky and said he merely paid him for political protection in Yeltsin-era Russia.
Wealth: Berezovsky claimed that Abramovich
intimidated him into selling shares at a discount in Russian oil firm
Sibneft, which later became Gazprom, pictured
The case revolved entirely around events in Russia but was heard in Britain because Mr Berezovsky filed legal papers here. He reportedly handed the writ to Mr Abramovich in person in London, in the Sloane Street branch of Hermes, passing it over the designer scarves and handbags with the words: ‘I have a present for you.’
Increasing numbers of wealthy Russians are trying to have their disputes settled in Britain as they claim they cannot get a fair trial without political interference in their homeland.
Mr Abramovich tried to have the case heard in Russia but Mr Berezovsky claimed he would face assassination if he returned, and won the right for it to be heard in London.
It is a victory he may now regret. Speaking outside the court, he said he was ‘absolutely amazed’ by the verdict and accused the judge of trying to rewrite Russian history.
‘My confidence in English justice has been undermined by the judge’s decision,’ he said, adding: ‘I got the impression that Mr Putin himself wrote this whole judgment.’
In Moscow, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov hailed the verdict, telling the state news agency: ‘It’s always pleasant when slander is called by its own name.’
BORIS BEREZOVSKY
WORTH: $3bn
EDUCATION: Doctorate in applied mathematics
RISE TO WEALTH: Started as a government official and author but bought a former state company in 1989 selling Soviet made cars and servicing foreign vehicles
BIG BREAK: Took control over ORT Television in 1994 and gained major political influence that was able to shape the outcome of elections.
CLAIMS: Abramovich exerted pressure to make him sell shares cheaply and deliberately devalued a company. Sought $3bn in damages from Abramovich for for blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract.
CONTROVERSY: Fell out with Vladimir Putin. A Moscow court convicted him in 2007 of embezzling £4.4million and branded him a member of an ‘organised crime group’
HOBBIES: Politics, maths, art and reading
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH
WORTH: $13.4bn
EDUCATION: High school drop out
RISE TO WEALTH: Worked as a street-trader and mechanic. Sold imported rubber ducks from his apartment before manufacturing his own toys.
BIG BREAK: Bought the former state oil firm Sibneft with Berezovsky in 2005 for $100m and added billions to its value.
ACCUSED OF: Acting as an enforcer-type figure for Putin and intimidating Berezovsky into selling shares in Sibneft for a fraction of their value. Also accused of selling a stake in aluminum firm to devalue Berezovsky's holding
CONTROVERSY: Admitted in court that he paid huge bribes (in billions) to government officials and obtained protection from gangsters to acquire assets
HOBBIES: Luxury yachts and Chelsea Football Club
A MASSIVE FORTUNE FROM THE ASHES OF COMMUNISM... BUT IS THERE ANY LEFT
In 1997, the height of his success, Boris Berezovsky was considered the most powerful of the post-Soviet oligarchs and was said to be worth £2billion.But just three years later, following a spectacular fall-out with the Kremlin, he fled Russia and claimed he was forced to hand over many of his business interests, or sell them for a fraction of their worth.
The former maths professor had risen from a modest background in Moscow. He was close to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin and used his political connections to prosper in the chaotic days following the collapse of communism.
But after a public spat with Mr Yeltsin’s successor Vladimir Putin over the sinking of the Kursk submarine, his political protection was effectively withdrawn.
Defiant: Berezovsky leaves in a car after his
defeat. Asked how he felt, he replied in English 'Perfect'. He said that
the decision would not affect history
He travels in a fleet of identical black-glassed, armour-plated cars to confuse would-be attackers, and his main home at £40million Wentworth Park in Surrey, surrounded by a 172-acre estate, was protected by former French legionnaires.
But Roman Abramovich’s legal team told the High Court they were alarmed by rumours that Mr Berezovsky had begun selling off his multi-million pound property empire, including Wentworth Park.
The lawyers said they feared he ‘may have been disposing assets in recent months’, ahead of being hit with a legal bill of up to £150million for his failed action against Mr Abramovich.
Intriguingly, Land Registry documents show another of the oligarch’s residences – a £4.5million mansion in exclusive St George’s Hill in Weybridge, Surrey – had a mortgage taken out against it in 2008, the year after Mr Berezovsky launched his claim against Mr Abramovich.
A year later, Mr Berezovsky was forced to sell his 360ft yacht Darius because he needed the cash.
He sold it to a Dubai millionaire for £217million and then refused to pay the broker, Edmiston, the fee that he owed.
That case also ended up in a London courtroom, and Mr Berezovsky lost. Since then he has continued to spend huge sums funding political parties and campaigns opposed to Vladimir Putin.
Last year he was also forced to pay a record £100million to his second wife as part of their divorce settlement.
Some observers believe he is now running out of money after his decade in exile. But others claim he has hidden his fortune in offshore accounts.
Mr Berezovsky refused to comment on the courtroom claims that he was trying to dispose of his assets. He said he never discussed his properties because of the FSB, the Russian secret service. It was not clear whether he feared assassination or the threat of further investigation.
Leaving flanked by his glamorous younger girlfriend Yelena Gorbunova and a hulking bodyguard, Mr Berezovsky said he would consider whether to appeal against yesterday’s ruling.
But if reports about his dwindling wealth are correct, his advisers may question whether he can afford to risk another roll of the dice in London’s law courts.
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