A former banker who blew his fortune on spread-betting
was yesterday ordered to hand over income from a foreign pension to his
ex-wife, in what lawyers said was a landmark ruling stopping divorcing
spouses concealing assets offshore.
Amit Goyal, who once earned £385,000 a year as a senior investment banker, was told to hand over two-thirds of his pension income to his ex-wife, Ankita, after transferring the funds to an Indian pension provider in a bid to hide his assets.
Legal experts said that the case was a landmark judgment that would stop warring spouses from attempting to shelter their wealth from the British courts.
Amit Goyal, who once earned £385,000 a year as a senior investment banker, was told to hand over two-thirds of his pension income to his ex-wife, Ankita, after transferring the funds to an Indian pension provider in a bid to hide his assets.
Legal experts said that the case was a landmark judgment that would stop warring spouses from attempting to shelter their wealth from the British courts.
Sarosh Zaiwalla, a solicitor who
acted for Mrs Goyal on a pro-bono basis, said: “This judgment will come
as a welcome relief to parties who find that, in anticipation of
matrimonial proceedings, their spouse's pension has been transferred
overseas.”
Mr Goyal, who had worked for firms including Barclays and Deutsche Bank, wed his wife in an arranged marriage in 2004. They separated in 2011 and have a nine-year-old daughter.
The former banker initially tried to claim that he had not been validly married, as an imposter had taken his place at their wedding, although this was dismissed by a judge in 2013.
Mr Goyal, who had worked for firms including Barclays and Deutsche Bank, wed his wife in an arranged marriage in 2004. They separated in 2011 and have a nine-year-old daughter.
The former banker initially tried to claim that he had not been validly married, as an imposter had taken his place at their wedding, although this was dismissed by a judge in 2013.
It
later emerged that Mr Goyal had gambled away his wealth on
spread-betting, was more than £650,000 in debt, and had transferred
three British pensions to India.
A court ordered him to hand over his last assets, £19,000 of shares, to his ex-wife, but he instead gave them to a cousin in what he said was payment for an existing debt.
In a Family Court ruling handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Mostyn dismissed Mr Goyal’s claims that he had handed his pension to a Mr Deshmukh, to whom he owed money.
A court ordered him to hand over his last assets, £19,000 of shares, to his ex-wife, but he instead gave them to a cousin in what he said was payment for an existing debt.
In a Family Court ruling handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Mostyn dismissed Mr Goyal’s claims that he had handed his pension to a Mr Deshmukh, to whom he owed money.
The judge said that although an
email account in the name of Mr Deshmukh had corresponded with the
pension provider “there is no evidence that [the firm] do not believe
that this is other than an email account operated by the husband”.
He ordered Mr Goyal to hand over £4,000 of his annual pension income to his wife, which he said was “a very small sum objectively, but it will be a meaningful sum for her as she attempts to rebuild her life and to support their child”.
Mrs Goyal said she was yet to received a penny from her ex-husband, in the five years since divorce proceedings began.
She said: “To be honest if I had not had the support of my family and friends I don’t think I would have survived.”
Culled from Telegraph
He ordered Mr Goyal to hand over £4,000 of his annual pension income to his wife, which he said was “a very small sum objectively, but it will be a meaningful sum for her as she attempts to rebuild her life and to support their child”.
Mrs Goyal said she was yet to received a penny from her ex-husband, in the five years since divorce proceedings began.
She said: “To be honest if I had not had the support of my family and friends I don’t think I would have survived.”
Culled from Telegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment