Russian oligarch faces jail for contempt in acrimonious UK divorce case

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) -A Russian oil tycoon faces a potential jail term after a judge at the High Court in London on Wednesday ruled he was in contempt of court for repeatedly failing to comply with legal rulings made in his bitter multi-million dollar divorce case.

Mikhail Kroupeev, the non-executive chairman of energy company Gulfsands, had not complied with orders made by the court after the collapse of his 36-year marriage to his wife Elena Kroupeeva, judge Richard Harrison said.

According to submissions from her legal team, the couple separated in "tempestuous" circumstances after Kroupeeva discovered in 2023 her husband had for most of the last 20 years been living a double life with a secret second family in Russia.

She began proceedings for a financial settlement in July 2024, and Kroupeev was ordered to pay just over 195,000 pounds ($262,645) towards her legal fees.

But her lawyers said he had failed to comply with that and a series of other orders demanding he reveal the true extent of his wealth that they said could be hundreds of millions of pounds, of which she was demanding an equal share. They said only prison would be an effective punishment.

The judge said he was satisfied that Kroupeev, who attended the hearing remotely from Cyprus, had deliberately breached orders and was in contempt of court. He adjourned sentencing until next Wednesday, with the oil magnate facing a maximum jail term of just over two years.

The couple, who are both Russian nationals but have British citizenship, moved to Britain in 1993.

Kroupeev's other business interests included Jupiter Energy, which is involved in oil and gas exports in Kazakhstan, and Waterford Finance which specialises in energy projects.

"They have been a very wealthy family for a very long time," Justin Warshaw, Kroupeeva's lawyer told the court.

The couple's assets were extensive, including a 15 million pound house in London, luxury homes in Portugal and Turkey, properties in Russia worth 10 million pounds, Warshaw said. They flew by private jet so their pet dogs could travel with them.

Warshaw said Kroupeev owed his wife more than 837,000 pounds in total, while a freezing order had also been made covering 38 million pounds of his assets.

Kroupeev's lawyer Michael Glaser said his client, who denied the allegations about their marriage, apologised for not complying with the orders, and had been unable to because of the freezing order.

He rejected Warshaw's assertion that his client had treated the court proceedings as a game.

"This is not a game, the liberty of my client is at stake," Glaser said.

($1 = 0.7424 pounds)

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Alexandra Hudson)