Oil tycoon to use African law in €20m divorce row
A BRITISH oil tycoon has won permission to rely on Nigerian native law in a divorce battle with his former wife.
Michael Prest (50) is attempting to overturn a High Court ruling in which he was ordered to pay £17.5m (€20.9m) to his wife of 15 years, Yasmin.
The judge found that, despite Mr Prest's claims that he was £48m (€57m) in debt, he was worth "conservatively at least £37.5m (€44m)".
Mr Prest appealed on the grounds that his company's assets did not belong to his wife but were "held in trust" for his children and the children of his four siblings in Africa.
Counsel for Mr Prest said under customary law in Nigeria, the death left Mr Prest as head of his family, with a responsibility to use the inheritance to look after his siblings and their children. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Victoria Ward in Lagos
Irish Independent
