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The ex-wife of the billionaire co-owner of Brecqhou is calling for him to be sent to prison - again.
A High Court judge ruled in 2021 that 88-year-old Sir Frederick Barclay should pay his spouse of 34 years, Lady Hiroko Barclay, lump sums totalling £100m as part of their divorce proceedings.
Last year, Lady Barclay returned to court to claim that the reclusive business mogul had not paid a penny of the money owed – despite allegedly having access to funds through a complex web of offshore trusts – and was aiming to "string things out" until "one or the other of us dies". She said he should be sent to prison for contempt of court.
Sir Frederick denied that he had access to funds held in trusts, with lawyers arguing that "all steps" had been taken to raise the money owed.
Brecqhou – a 32-hectare island purchased by Sir Frederick for £3.5m in 1993 alongside his twin brother, Sir David, who died aged 86 in 2021 – came up in proceedings.
The Judge said that "some of the liquidity problems in this case would be resolved" if Brecqhou was sold.
However, Sir Frederick's lawyers told the Court that other family members with an interest in the island were unwilling to sell.
Pictured: Sir Frederick Barclay and his late brother, Sir David, built an imposing castle on Brecqhou.
Judge Sir Jonathan Cohen decided that Lady Barclay had failed to prove her ex-husband had access to a complex web of offshore trusts, but did find he had breached a court order to pay her £60,000 in monthly maintenance as well as her legal fees of £185,000.
In August, the court heard that the £245,000 had been paid, but that there was "still no plan for payment" for the full £100m.
Sir Frederick is now due back at the High Court today for a public hearing. According to national media reports, the case is listed as an "application by Lady Hiroko Barclay for the committal to prison of Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay."
Sir Jonathan Cohen is due to oversee the latest stage in the ongoing legal fight.
The Barclay twins were estimated to be worth £7billion prior to Sir David's death. Their business empire, built from nothing, included the Telegraph media group and the Ritz Hotel.
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