U.K. property tycoon brothers Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz are suing the Serious Fraud Office for damages estimated at up to GBP 200 million (ISK 40 billion, USD 322 million, EUR 247 million) each for the SFO’s flawed investigation into their part in the collapse of the Iceland bank Kaupþing.

Photo copyright Icelandic Photo Agency.

The court case was filed in London yesterday and is scheduled for trial at the high court in January 2014. If the brothers win the case, the SFO must pay the highest damages in the agency’s history, The Guardian reports.

Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz were arrested in raids on their homes in March 2011. However, in mid-October the SFO was forced to drop the case against the brothers after admitting to serious failings, among them having “no clear record” of the information used to obtain warrants to search Vincent Tchenguiz’s home.

“My reputation suffered serious damage during the 15 months between my arrest and the SFO conceding that they had no grounds for holding me as a suspect. Significant financial loss can be proved to have occurred as a result of the reckless actions,” Vincent Tchenguiz said after the pre-trial hearing at the high court yesterday.

Click here to read the full report in The Guardian and here to read more about the affairs of the Tchenguiz brothers in Iceland.

ESA

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