Pictured: Wife of ex-Wonga boss he left for Ukrainian refugee

2022-09-04

EXCLUSIVE Pictured: Wife of millionaire ex-Wonga boss, 52, who he dumped for homewrecker Ukrainian refugee after she was welcomed into their family home following Russian invasion

Haakon Overli, 52, moved out of his Surrey family home with his new girlfriend
He left wife Imogen Overli and their children months after the refugee arrived
Millionaire investor has actively lobbied politicians to help Ukrainian refugees
The entrepreneur is a former director of disgraced payday loan firm Wonga

A former boss of disgraced payday loan firm Wonga has ditched his wife for a Ukrainian refugee who moved in with them at their family home.

Investor and dotcom entrepreneur Haakon Overli, 52, is said to have begun a love affair with the Eastern European woman after she moved into the couple’s Surrey estate following the Russian invasion.

Just weeks after she moved in, the married millionaire apparently left his wife, orchestra chairman Imogen Overli, and children and moved in with his mistress, according to The Sun.

Mr Overli, estimated to be worth £5 million by website Companycheck, is said to have lobbied the government to help bring refugees to the UK from Ukraine since the start of the war in March.

He is also reported to have began weeks of lobbying Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel in March to speed up the process of bringing his now girlfriend to Britain.

Haakon Overli, 52, is said to have begun a love affair with the Eastern European woman after taking her into the family home in Surrey following the Russian invasion

Mr Overli has left wife Imogen Overli, an orchestra chairman, for the refugee who moved into their home

Just a few months after the Ukrainian refugee was granted a visa, she and Mr Overli moved out of the family estate in Surrey.

Mr Overli has repeatedly Tweeted his support for bringing Ukrainian refugees to the UK since the beginning of the Russian invasion earlier this year.

Norwegian-born Mr Overli, who studied maths at the University of Oslo and also has a degree in economics from Durham University, made his money in the early years of the dot com boom after founding online stockbroker Self Trade in 1997.

The company was floated in April 2000 and sold in October that year for more than £900million ($1.1 billion).

Mr Overli has also worked for JP Morgan and as an investment banker at ING Barings.

Mr Overli, estimated to be worth £5 million, is the former director of disgraced payday loan firm Wonga, which charged annual interest rates equal to 1,509 per cent

Norwegian-born Overli has been active on Twitter supporting the plight of Ukrainian refugees (image of refugees from March 19 this year)

The company fell into administration in 2018, having been heavily criticised by politicians, including Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, as a leading example of ‘predatory lending’, having agreed loans to people who would never have been able to repay them.

Around 200,000 customers still owed a total of £400 million when Wonga collapsed following a flood of compensation claims.

Campaigners accused the controversial firm of being a ‘legal loan shark’ and exploiting customers by offering small loans which rapidly built up astronomical interest rates which many struggled to pay back.

Some customers faced interest rates of up to 5,853 per cent before the government intervened, limiting the rats to 1,500 per cent.

Wonga also charged interest at annual percentage rates that equated to an eye-watering 1,509 per cent.

In the years after his time at Wonga, Overli co-founded Dawn Capital, which describes itself as Europe’s largest specialist business-to-business software investor.

Source: Read Full Article