Moises Gertner

Last updated
Moises Gertner
BornAugust 1957 [1]
Known forReal estate
Property development

Moises Gertner (born August 1957) [1] is British businessman in real estate, property development, and natural resource commodities. Moises and his brother Mendi Gertner were formerly listed in the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated net worth of $GBP 450 million. [2]

Contents

Business career

Through their company, Fordgate, Gertner and his brother Mendi had a European property portfolio once valued at over 2.5 billion Euros. Their properties included Canon Bridge House [3] the previous headquarters of Lazard Bank in the City of London Corporation as well as the Southside Wandsworth shopping center. [4] [5] They were also significant shareholders of Nikanor, a copper miner that floated on AIM in 2006 and was eventually taken over by global commodities group Glencore. [6] [7]

The brothers were introduced to Kaupthing Bank through Robert Tchenguiz, and they consequently acquired a 2.5% stake in Kaupthing, purchased with a loan from the same bank. [2] However, their property portfolio faced ruin after the 2008 financial crisis and the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, which included Kaupthing Bank. [8] [9] After the collapse, the Gertners' deal was scrutinized by the UK Serious Fraud Office, in connection to Tchenguiz. [2] [9]

Bankruptcy

In 2015, Gertner held one of the largest private debts in history, at more than 610 million GBP, primarily to Kaupthing Bank as well as several Jewish charities and individual investors. [6] Gertner initially proposed a repayment plan that returned a very small amount of money to his creditors;w a total of 500,000 GBP was to be split between all creditors. [10] The small settlement prompting the Charity Commission to open an investigation to determine if more regulatory action was needed. [11]

In 2019, Gertner was forced to declare bankruptcy by the High Court of England and Wales. [12] By this time, his debts had reached almost 800 million GBP, and the court refused to back the settlement plan Gertner had proposed. It was discovered that Gertner and Kaupthing had created a side deal to the settlement plan which the court said constituted as a "breach of good faith." [13] As a result, and at the request of his largest creditors, Gertner had to declare bankruptcy. [13]

Personal life

Gertner was formerly listed in the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated net worth of 450m Euros. [2]

For several years, the Gertner brothers have been in several long running legal disputes with billionaires Dan Gertler, Robert Tchenguiz, and Beny Steimetz [14] as well as Kaupthing Bank in Iceland. [2] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Moises GERTNER personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-01-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Shah, Oliver (2015-11-29). "Creditors close in on property tycoon Gertner". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  3. ↑ Norman, Paul (2006-06-21). "Atlas buys Cannon Bridge House for US syndicate". Estates Gazette. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  4. ↑ Keers, Helena (2001-04-06). "Secretive Fordgate snaps up £300m of regional properties". Property Week. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  5. ↑ "Cineworld's Steve Wiener: Welcome to my world". Property Week. 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2025-02-24.
  6. 1 2 Shah, Oliver (2017-01-29). "Property tycoon faces bankruptcy". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
  7. ↑ Klinger, By Peter. "Nikanor float brings windfall for Gertners".
  8. 1 2 Davidson, Alan (2011-03-30). "Property tycoons ready to be questioned". The Times. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  9. 1 2 Bowers, Simon (2011-02-09). "Kaupthing liquidators fight £1.8bn claim". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  10. ↑ Rashty, Sandy (December 18, 2015). "Charities lose millions after businessman agrees debt deal". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  11. ↑ Rashty, Sandy. "Charity Commission will look into case of Jewish businessman who owed millions". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  12. ↑ Montague-Jones, Guy (2019-07-22). "Moises Gertner loses High Court battle". Property Week. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  13. 1 2 Clarence-Smith, Louisa (2019-07-21). "Property tycoon loses court battle to prevent bankruptcy". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  14. ↑ Weitz, Gidi. "British brothers take on Israeli lawyer in multi-million dollar dispute over African diamonds". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2025-01-12.


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