Judge orders sale of bankrupt oligarch’s £11m Kensington home

A London insolvency judge has ordered the possession and sale of the £11.5m family home of a bankrupt Russian oligarch. Judge Raquel Agnello made the ruing in a judgment handed down yesterday, dismissing arguments from Khadzhi-Murat Derev that the flat was owned by his wife. Derev was declared bankrupt by a court in the Russian Federation in 2019, owing more than £87m. Bankruptcy proceedings, including a freezing order, have also been going though the London courts. The property, Flat 5, 14 Montpellier Street, SW7, is across the road from Harrods department store. Derev bought it for £13.5m in 2017. According to the ruling, it is now valued at between £11m and £11.5m. Derev owes almost £8m on the mortgage, which is in default. At a hearing in November, representatives of Derev and his wife told the judge he had given all of his property outside of Russia to his wife and children. The representatives said the flat is their current home. Neither Derev of his wife attended the hearing and were not cross-examined. In her ruling yesterday, the judge said neither of the pair had substantiated the claim that the flat was solely owned by Derev’s wife, saying their arguments were “simply bare assertions”. She said there were no “exception circumstances” in the case. “Therefore, I will grant an order for possession and sale,” she said. Paul David Allen (as designated person under Article 21(1)( e) of the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006) Applicant v Khadzi-Murat Derev (A Bankrupt) Debtor/First Respondent Zukhra Mussaevna Dereva Second Respondent