Celebrity wealth adviser with Instagrammer wife sued for nearly £27m

2022-08-04

Celebrity tax avoidance adviser who ran private equity firm with Instagrammer wife is sued for nearly £27m by creditors for ‘failing to pay investors’ when company went bust

EXCLUSIVE: Administrators are suing the celebrity wealth adviser Tim Levy
Mr Levy, 53, runs limited liability partnership Cocoon Wealth with wife Roxana
The LLP went into administration in 2020, with unpaid debts of £25.8million
Documents show administrators acting on behalf of investors are suing Mr Levy
They are claiming £26.7million – £22.7million in damages plus nearly £4 interest
Mr Levy said: ‘The action is being defended in full, all charges are rejected’

A controversial celebrity wealth adviser is being sued for nearly £27m by creditors who also want the deeds to his magnificent mansion in the South of France.

Tim Levy, 53, and his glamorous Instagrammer ‘yummy mummy’ wife Roxana, 39, run a limited liability partnership (LLP) called Cocoon Wealth which went into administration in 2020 with unpaid debts of £25.8m, according to legal papers lodged at the High Court.

The documents show that the administrators of the LLP, acting on behalf of investors, are suing Mr Levy for £26.7m.

Along with Roxana, through her company Roxi Enterprises (UK) Ltd, the couple are listed at Companies House as the only two ‘designated members’ running Cocoon.

Mother-of-three Roxana has 28,000 followers on her Instagram account @thisladyrox, which describes her as a ‘fun, frisky and foxy mum’.

Her posts show her in bikinis and swimwear in exotic locations all over the world from Mykonos to Marbella, though one unimpressed follower asked pointedly last year: ‘Who is paying for all this?’

Tim Levy (pictured), 53, and his glamorous Instagrammer ‘yummy mummy’ wife Roxana, 39, run a limited liability partnership (LLP) called Cocoon Wealth which went into administration in 2020 with unpaid debts of £25.8m, according to legal papers lodged at the High Court

Along with Roxana (pictured), through her company Roxi Enterprises (UK) Ltd, the couple are listed at Companies House as the only two ‘designated members’ running Cocoon

Mother-of-three Roxana (pictured) has 28,000 followers on her Instagram account @thisladyrox, which describes her as a ‘fun, frisky and foxy mum’

Creditors also want the deeds to his magnificent mansion in the South of France (pictured: Aerial view from Google Earth)

The Levys were married in style at the exclusive £500-a-night Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferat in Nice in June 2019.

The new civil claim against Mr Levy – who previously ran a controversial tax avoidance scheme invested in by many prominent figures in the world of football — alleges he is in ‘breach of his fiduciary duty’ to act in the best interests of Cocoon and its creditors.’

The legal document claims that he advanced more than £2.5m of Cocoon’s funds to his own consultancy company, Blue Mountain Advisers Ltd, in the form of either a loan or ‘excessive remuneration’.

He’s also alleged to have made payments from Cocoon totalling £12.3m for the purchase and upkeep of his own property in Aix-en-Provence, known as La Fin de la Rue.

Thirdly, the documents claim her caused Cocoon to make payments of a further £7.8m to himself ‘for no consideration or benefit to the claimant [Cocoon]’.

The administrators seek £22.7m in damages plus nearly £4m in interest, and also a declaration from the court that the house in Provence is the property of Cocoon, rather than the Levys.

Mr Levy was previously chief executive of Future Capital Partners which was behind two controversial tax avoidance LLP schemes, called Eclipse 35 and Elysian, both reported to have been challenged by HMRC, leaving investors – including prominent names from the world of football – allegedly facing debts and penalties of ‘tens of millions’, though it is not known how the cases were resolved.

The Levys were married in style at the exclusive £500-a-night Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferat in Nice in June 2019. Pictured: Roxana has shared images of her using private helicopters and jets

The Levys (pictured: Roxana beside a pool overlooking the sea) have put La Fin de la Rue on the rental market for £2,000 per day or £10,500 a week, accompanied by a glossy 42-page ‘book’ describing it as ‘an extraordinary luxury seven-acre sporting estate for rent in the heart of Provence.

Eclipse and Elysian’s investors are believed to have included Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, former Liverpool and Everton manager Rafa Benitez, former Chelsea and Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, and ex-England managers Sven-Goran Eriksson and Glenn Hoddle.

The Levys have put La Fin de la Rue on the rental market for £2,000 per day or £10,500 a week, accompanied by a glossy 42-page ‘book’ describing it as ‘an extraordinary luxury seven-acre sporting estate for rent in the heart of Provence.’

In an introduction, Mr Levy says: ‘The property is comprised of a main building, smaller guest house, tree house, hot yoga pavilion, tennis court, swimming pool, tree-op adventure experience and seven acres of surrounding gardens.

‘In addition our home has become an outstanding sporting estate . The house is the perfect base to enjoy intensive training… or a multi sports experience.

‘Combining an active life with luxurious living and food from Michelin-starred chefs amidst stunning scenery and a gorgeous ambiance is exactly how we like to live our lives.’

As well as their French property, the Levys also own a Grade II listed 8-bedroom riverside house in west London with a landscaped garden and its own pool house, believed to be worth at least £7m.

As well as their French property, the Levys (pictured: Roxana) also own a Grade II listed 8-bedroom riverside house in west London with a landscaped garden and its own pool house, believed to be worth at least £7m

Mr Levy told MailOnline: ‘The action is being defended in full, all charges are rejected and I have appointed a leading law firm to act in my defence.

‘I have been a director of over 300 companies and LLPs and a number have failed – such is the nature of entrepreneurial activities I am engaged in.

‘Occasionally the creditors don’t accept that this is due to legitimate reasons and bring legal action.

‘The bringing of such action, of course, does not mean that they are right and often matters are very complex and subtle and involve judgements made at times which, subsequently, with the benefit of hindsight, were wrong – but that doesn’t render the original decisions were not justified or legitimate.’

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