Reform treasurer’s company seeking millions after alleged fraud, High Court told

Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy’s company is seeking millions in damages from a technology start-up which claimed to be the “next Facebook” following a “clear and straightforward case of fraud”, the High Court has been told.

Candy Ventures Sarl (CVS), a portfolio of companies founded by Mr Candy, is taking legal action against Dutch businessman Robert Bonnier over allegations he “lied” to “deceive” it into investing around 7.5 million euro (£6.5 million) in Aaqua BV, which he directs.

Mr Candy, who was announced as Reform’s treasurer in December last year, owns 90% of CVS.

Barristers for the company told a trial on Tuesday that Mr Bonnier claimed Apple and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) were set to invest one billion US dollars in Aaqua, and as a result, CVS swapped shares in podcasting firm Audioboom for “worthless” shares in Aaqua.

It is asking a court to rescind the investment or order Mr Bonnier and Aaqua to pay £5.7 million in damages.

Mr Bonnier is representing himself at trial and in August was blocked from defending the claim for breaching court orders, with barristers for CVS telling the court he was “restricted to attendance and making oral submissions” and was “not allowed to advance any factual case”.

He has told the court that while he “overstated the prospects of an investment” into Aaqua, he did not believe CVS would “rely” on it.

In written submissions for the trial in London, Jonathan Nash KC, for CVS, said: “In late 2020/early 2021, Mr Bonnier lied to CVS, time and again, both orally and in writing, to deceive it into investing in his company, Aaqua.

“He told CVS that he had discussed Aaqua with two of the world’s biggest names, Apple and LVMH, and believed that they would invest in the company.”

He continued: “In fact, and as Mr Bonnier well knew, none of that was true.”

He added: “As a result of his flagrant fraud, CVS, like other sophisticated investors, was duped into investing in Aaqua.”

Mr Nash told the court Aaqua, which is now insolvent, was established in the Netherlands in 2020 to develop a “new social media software application”.

Mr Bonnier is claimed to have told Mr Candy and Steven Smith, CVS’s executive director, that Apple and LVMH were set to invest in Aaqua, which Mr Smith told the court was “completely fundamental” to CVS’s decision to invest.

Mr Candy met Mr Bonnier in Dubai in January 2021.

Mr Nash claimed Mr Bonnier said he personally knew Apple chief executive Tim Cook and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, and told Mr Smith that Aaqua would be the “next Facebook”.

CVS agreed in February 2021 to transfer 1.5 million shares in podcasting firm Audioboom to Aaqua, worth around £6.5 million.

It also agreed to purchase 15,000 Aaqua shares, which were believed to be worth around 7.5 million euro (£6.5 million), but Mr Nash said the value of these was “false and artificial, induced, as it was, by Aaqua and Mr Bonnier’s fraud”.

Following this, Mr Bonnier told Mr Candy on WhatsApp that Apple’s investment was “a foregone conclusion”, but the investment never occurred, Mr Nash said.

Mr Nash said by the summer of 2022, “CVS’s patience had run out”, and when Mr Smith asked Mr Bonnier about the situation, he responded that he was “simply no longer comfortable talking about founder partner relationships”, with legal proceedings being launched that year.

The barrister said Mr Bonnier had since said he had only met Mr Cook once, in 1999, and only met Mr Arnault at “large social gatherings”, adding Mr Bonnier knew his claims were false and “intended to mislead” CVS.

The court was told Mr Bonnier claims he did not believe that Apple and LVMH’s supposed investment caused CVS to invest, which Mr Nash denied.

Mr Nash said in court that Mr Bonnier claims he did not say Apple and LVMH were involved, and “all he did was express his aspiration that he could get Apple and LVMH on board”.

But the barrister said the businessman “went much further than that”, stating: “What was said and what was said dishonestly, and what was highly material to my client’s view of this investment, was that there were active discussions with Apple and LVMH which could reasonably be expected to lead to investment.”

In written submissions, Mr Bonnier admitted “selling his aspirations for Aaqua very enthusiastically, and occasionally perhaps going too far in those efforts”.

But he said he had a “proven track record of ‘pulling off the impossible’ and creating substantial value for shareholders”.

He said: “However, it was always understood that ultimately the claimant would form their own independent views on whether the founder’s vision would be achieved.”

The Dutchman also said CVS had “expressly stated and agreed that it would conduct its own diligence on the specific point of the likelihood of an investment” by Apple and LVMH.

He continued: “The claimant suffered no loss as a result of its investment; any loss it did suffer was brought about by the claimant’s own actions.”

The trial before Mr Justice Bright is set to conclude later this week.