‘Broke’ tycoon seeks extra time to explain lost £400m fortune

A “BROKE” property tycoon facing jail for failing to explain what happened to the £400 million (about €434m) which his estranged wife says he was worth just three years ago pleaded with a family court judge yesterday for more time to come up with the information.

Scot Young, 47, was told by Ms Justice Parker in June to come clean about his finances or face six months in prison.

Yesterday, the judge heard that the information – which Young was required to disclose under a court order made in July last year – had still not been provided.

Young’s lawyers said his attempts to get to grips with the complex task, at a time when he had no legal advisers, had resulted in mental health problems which landed him in hospital for a week.

The judge went on to hear argument over whether she should extend the suspension of the six-month jail order, which was imposed for Young’s contempt of court, to give him more time to comply.

Young insists his property empire has collapsed, he is being pursued for £27m by creditors and he expects to be made bankrupt.

But ex wife Michelle Young, who is suing for divorce and maintenance, plus a large share of his assets, maintains she does not believe him.

The couple married at Chelsea Register Office in 1995. Young, who owned a series of high-value properties, sold a £19m family home to Boris Berezovsky, the Russian oligarch, on the Wentworth Park Estate in Egham, Surrey. Young has been described as a “fixer” for the wealthy.

Young and his wife later moved to America. They last lived together inMiami before she returned to Britain in 2006.

Since then she has lived with daughters Scarlet, 16, and Sasha, 14, in London.

The case continues.