Court battle over Picasso art exposes offshore finances of Farage’s billionaire Davos sponsor | UK news

A high court fight over a Picasso painting has shed light on the offshore financial structures of an Iranian-born businessman who paid for Nigel Farage’s £50,000 trip to Davos.

Details about Sasan Ghandehari, who financed Farage’s tickets to the summit, have emerged in court documents relating to a £4 million claim by a British Virgin Islands firm that accused auction house Christie’s of making false statements when selling the work.

Ghandehari, a British national who reportedly owns a $10bn (£7.3bn) family trust, is described in the original claim as an agent who arranged the deal for firm Brewer Management Corporation. A recent ruling shows that his wife, Yassmin Ghandehari, is the “apparent ultimate beneficial owner” of this BVI company.

In response, Christie’s filed a £16 million counterclaim, saying Ghandehari had failed to pay for the painting Femme dans un rocking chair. They further expressed concerns that Brewer Management Corporation would not be able to pay the costs of the case if a judgment was entered against them and requested security.

Court documents show Ghandehari, the guarantor of the sale, has refrained from providing details of his income from the HP Trust or his reported $10 billion in assets out of concern it would become public, which his lawyer said would be an “invasive practice.”

The documents raise questions for Farage over a lack of transparency regarding Ghandehari’s $10 billion foundation after it was listed under the Reform UK leader’s name as a sponsor of Ghandehari’s Davos pass.

Tom Brake, director of campaign group Unlock Democracy, said: “Politicians must demand full transparency about who is donating to their campaigns and make this information publicly available. This is the minimum the public can receive from those seeking support.”

Ghandehari’s lawyers said the secrecy of private family foundations is a normal and legal feature of such structures.

Farage’s links to Ghandehari were first reported by the Guardian following the Reform UK leader’s £50,000 trip to Davos, which he attended with a pass arranged by the HP Trust.

The Guardian also revealed that the Ghandehari family were clients of a design firm that donated £200,000 to Reform UK. Interior Architecture Landscape firm says the donation was made by independently owned and managed John Simpson, a conveyancer from Potters Bar.

In a second connection between the firm and the family, first reported by the FT, court documents show Richard Darby was an agent working for Ghandehari and BMC when they negotiated the artwork in 2023.

Darby also owned Interior Architecture Landscaping from 2020 to 2021 and served as director until early 2023. Lawyers for the Ghandehari family and a spokesperson for Interior Architecture Landscaping said Darby did not represent the family while he owned and operated the firm. They also highlight that Ghandehari had no influence over the company’s £200,000 political donation to Reform UK.

Ghandehari’s wealth reportedly comes from her late mother Hourieh Peremaa, which was donated by her family. An interview in 2008 He explained that he was born in Kazakhstan, fled to Iran as a refugee at the age of 17, and made billions through property. He first appeared in London in 2008, when he bought one of the capital’s most expensive houses for £50 million.

But little is known about what Ghandehari’s HP Trust invests in or where its reported $10 billion in assets are based. His lawyer said his investment portfolio consists of real estate and capital markets investments in Europe and North America.

Ghandehari’s lawyers say the Brewer Management Corporation is one of several vehicles used by the family to acquire and store works of art, saying it is standard practice among international collectors and art dealers, especially where works of art are kept in safe free ports.

At the heart of the lawsuit, Ghandehari claims that Christie’s should have told him that the painting was sold by a businessman convicted of drug trafficking, while Brewer Management Corporation guaranteed to buy the painting for a set price in early 2023 if it did not sell at auction. Christie’s said it was under no obligation to tell him this and that the issue was not raised when Ghandehari made the initial payment of £4 million.

In its countersuit, Christie’s explained that Darby, Ghandehari’s agent, sent a message in May 2023 that read: “The account team was requesting a break and wondering if they could withdraw the payment plan.” The payment still had not been made as of July 2024. Ghandehari’s lawyers say they have doubts about the seller’s origin and conviction at this point.

A judge found that no financial information had been presented to show that the firm had sufficient assets to cover Christie’s costs if a decision was made against it.

The only asset that turned out to be owned by the Brewer Management Corporation was another painting by Flora Yukhnovich called “I’ll Have What She’s Having”; Ghandeharis is estimated to be worth £2.1-2.3 million, while Christie’s estimates him to be worth £1 million. The painting is said to be kept in an unknown location in England.

Regarding Ghandehari’s claims of a “good standing”, the judge said he found it difficult to accept this “as no appropriate evidence was presented as to Mr Ghandehari’s financial situation”.

Ghandehari’s lawyer claimed that a quick Google search would be enough to show that he is very rich, and offered as evidence a statement that he attended Davos as the owner of a $10 billion fund called the HP Trust.

He also at one point offered a letter from a partner in an accounting firm to prove that Ghandehari had received significant income from the fund, but this offer was later withdrawn because they did not want it to enter the public domain. Ghandehari’s lawyers said that since he was not a party to the security application, he had no obligation to disclose further information about it in court.

The judge decided not to direct the BVI company to put in place security, stating that the existence of the counterclaim was not limited to doing just that. Instead, he said he would accept Yassmin Ghandehari’s undertakings that the Yukhnovich painting was ready and “unencumbered”, reveal the painting’s location and allow Christie’s to sell it to satisfy any costs orders – even though it was “illiquid” and would not cover the costs.

A Christie’s spokesman said: “This is a clear claim for debt and we are defending ourselves vigorously and will continue to pursue the amounts rightfully owed to us. Mr Ghandehari is an experienced art market investor and collector who has been active in the market for many years at auction houses and provides good advice. We are confident that we have complied with all legal and regulatory obligations regarding due diligence on the work and our consignor.”