Crooked property developer has a mental ‘breakdown’ on his way to court
A fraudster who fleeced a property developer out of £2.5m was jailed for seven years in his absence after he suffered a mental ‘breakdown’ on his way to court.
Elie Taktouk, 46, married Lebanese model Daniella Semaan, in Lebanon in 1998 but they split 13 years later when she left him for the former Arsenal and Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas, 34.
Taktouk, son of the wealthy Yousseff Taktouk, lost his former family home in Belgravia to Miss Semaan, 46, and Fabregas after failing to block the £5.5m sale of the flat to the footballer at the Court of Appeal.
The Grade-II listed property, just yards from Buckingham Palace, had been put up for sale in 2013 so Taktouk could provide cash in the divorce settlement with his former wife.
Taktouk disregarded court orders barring him from buying plane tickets out of the country and obstructed an investigation into his assets.
Southwark Crown Court heard Taktouk relied upon sham documents purporting to show he didn’t own a property in London during his matrimonial proceedings.
He collapsed in the dock in July 2020 as he was jailed for seven months for ignoring court orders.
Last month Taktouk, a director of JMT Property Ltd, was convicted by a jury of 11 counts of fraud after property developer Adrian Noël and his father Frank launched a private prosecution against him.
The charges related to the renovation of a £7m Grade-II listed apartment in Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge.
Taktouk was convicted following a trial at Prospero House – the first ‘Nightingale’ court to be opened in the pandemic last year.
He failed to attend Southwark Crown Court for sentence today after apparently suffering a ‘breakdown’ and was jailed for seven years in his absence.
Judge Alexander Milne also issued a warrant for his arrest.
The Noëls made an initial investment which helped to buy the property – and then made ten additional investments at Elie’s request for works to be done while he was project manager.
Instead of using their investments to help pay for a jacuzzi and other renovations Taktouk used the cash to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
He failed to keep up with payments due to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and the Noëls lost just under £2.5m after their property was seized.
Taktouk also faked invoices for a building firm for work that was never done, and tried to shift the blame for the fake invoices onto company boss Joseph Farah.
Mr Farah’s reputation was ruined by the affair, and lost his income due to lack of work.
In a statement read to the court, he said: ‘My reputation is ruined, I’m no longer part of the Lebanese community.
‘I used to be a strong man, but now I can’t sleep.’
Prosecutor Richard Whittam, QC, reading from Adrian Noel’s statement, said: ‘I felt I had let my father down and brought shame on my family.
‘The day I discovered the property was being sold… I couldn’t sleep.
‘I was extremely anxious and nervous about failing again.’
Adrian Noel was diagnosed with depression due to the shock of being defrauded, but has fortunately recovered in the years since the fraud scheme was discovered.
Judge Milne said of Taktouk: ‘I would find it hard to rely on almost everything he said.
‘He is someone for whom the truth is whatever is convenient for him at the moment.
‘He is self-absorbed, and self-pitying,
‘The explanation this was just the mixing of funds which could be made good was rejected by the jury.’
Tim Moloney, QC, for Taktouk, said: ‘The scheme was legitimately conceived, rather than fraudulent from the outset.’
He said Taktouk is currently suffering from ADHD and a serious depressive disorder.
Case papers revealed the Noëls lost the whole of their investment which totalled £2,490,546.69.
Court documents showed Elie used more than £200,000 of the funds to pay legal fees from his divorce from Ms Semaan.
He also spent over a million of the Noëls’ money on: More than £20,000 of expensive private school fees for his children; a £28,000 Porsche; a £21,000 a month property in Kensington; Georgio Armani clothes; shopping sprees in Harrods and splurging out on high-value furniture.
Mr Whittam earlier told jurors how Taktouk carried out the fraud, between 2014 and 2017.
‘It is all about an investment to acquire to redevelop a flat in Knightsbridge, with a father and son.
‘The redevelopment failed, it died when the property was seized by a bank and sold at auction in 2017.
‘Taktouk wasted some of the funds that were paid on his own personal needs.
‘It is not a scheme to defraud the Noëls from the beginning.
‘He made offers to pay money back from refunds paid back by the bank.
‘There is a problem, which is that you can only get refunds on something you have bought.
‘Investors paid money to JMT, and it didn’t always go to the redevelopment, some money went to his accounts.’
The Taktouk family are worth approximately £150m, and boast a variety of business interests in Nigeria and Lebanon in transport, flour mills, insurance, and property.
Taktouk failed to appear at Southwark Crown Court, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Taktouk, of Cadogan Square, Chelsea, denied but was convicted of eight counts of fraud by false representation, one of fraud by abuse of position and two of using a false instrument, between 12 February 2015 and 1 August 2017.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison, and disqualified from acting as a company director for ten years.
Last year Taktouk admitted six counts of violating a restraint order and eight counts of contempt of court and was jailed for seven months.
Before he was sentenced then Taktouk said: ‘Please, I can’t do this. I went through a bad divorce. This does not mean I am a criminal.’
He then stood up before passing out in the dock and had to be carried from the courtroom.
