Hedge fund boss Crispin Odey’s trial will continue next month after the judge rejected claims that inconsistencies should see the case thrown out early.
Odey’s lawyer, Crispin Aylett QC, told Hendon Magistrates Court on the second day of trial the case should be thrown out because of inconsistencies in the evidence given by a woman, who claims Odey “lunged at” and groped her when she was a junior banker in 1998, and other witnesses.
The judge acknowledged inconsistencies but concluded “this case calls for an answer and must proceed.”
As a result the trial has been adjourned until 11 March when Odey will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court.
Odey allegedly groped junior banker in ‘an octopussy-type manoeuvre’
The Odey Asset Management founder, allegedly groped the complainant in “an octopussy-type manoeuvre” during a private meeting at his Chelsea house in 1998.
Odey denies physically assaulting the junior banker, telling the police during an interview in 2019 that he had been “undoubtedly foolish to invite her round and she was stupid to accept”.
The woman, who was 26 at the time, told the court yesterday that the assault was “a scramble of hands”. “It’s like a sort of groping event. [That’s] the only way to describe it.”
She alleged that Odey, now 62, was “attempting to get involved with my body” but couldn’t recall the exact sequence of events.
Aylett questioned the woman’s story, asking “Is it the case that this didn’t happen at all and that’s why you can’t remember the choreography?”
‘A sleazy, deceitful man who likes to prey on an innocent young woman’
The woman told Hendon Magistrates Court that she complained to her bank’s human resources department about the incident in 1999.
She said: “Human resources were very particular about the Odey situation. I shouldn’t be discussing it with anyone.” She took the complaint to bosses, and was allegedly told by a trader “you need to stop this.”
She addressed the situation again in 2013, after seeing a flattering newspaper profile of the fund manager. She sent him an email calling him a “sleazy, deceitful man who likes to prey on an innocent young woman”.
Odey responded to the email at the time acknowledging the meeting but denying the assault and implying the woman held a grudge against him.
Odey stepped down as co-CEO of Odey Asset Management in November, leaving Timothy Pearey as the sole CEO. The firm also announced the creation of Brook Asset Management, a new regulated entity, subject to FCA approval, as part of the Odey Group, to accompany the ‘Brook’ fund range created in November.
If convicted, Odey would face a maximum jail sentence of 10 years. The FCA would also have the power to ban him from working within the financial industry.
