Eaton mess Text by Mark Hollingsworth When German Khan, a gun-toting oligarch, and his ex-air hostess wife Angelika, sacked Chelsea interior designer Carole Langton, he expected her to go quietly. But Carole is made of stronger stuff and

dragged the Russian to court. Swatch team From top left: German Khan; his wife Angelika; Carole £££ later, who’s winning? Langton

trange things happen revealed a full set of gold teeth. But just as to be heard next year and the proceedings when you fall out with a Langton became uneasy, two policemen will provide a rare glimpse into the . On the walked by and the stranger jumped on his finances and lifestyle of Khan and his afternoon of 19 February motorbike and raced away. family in London. 2009, Carole Langton, Coincidentally, that very morning Langton The odds are stacked against Langton. interior designer to many had sent witness statements to the lawyers She has been a highly regarded interior of Britain’s wealthiest of German Khan, the Russian businessman designer for the last 20 years. Her past tycoons, was working in who has recently invested £74.5 million in clients include Hanson plc and the rock-star- her office on Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, when property in Belgravia, as part of her lawsuit turned-photographer Bryan Adams. For two Sshe noticed an extremely tall, muscle-bound for unpaid fees. While there is no evidence years Langton, who describes her style as man park his motorbike directly outside. whatsoever that the mysterious biker was ‘classically traditional’, renovated and re- She had never seen him before. Dressed linked to Khan, it was an unnerving and decorated a vast apartment in Eaton Square from head to toe in black leather, he looked chilling experience. owned by Elliott Bernerd, the property like a character from Eastern Promises, the For the past two years, Langton has been entrepreneur. In 1992, soon after moving in, dark thriller about the Russian mafia in Lon- locked in a bitter legal dispute with Khan Bernerd was visited by Wafic Said, the don. He walked over to Langton’s office and his wife Angelika over her gutting and Syrian financier and middleman in interna- window and stared directly at her for several renovation of their £13.5 million duplex tional arms deals. Said was so enchanted by

Jeremy Young. Charlie Holding seconds, then smiled. As his lips parted, they apartment in Eaton Square. The case is due the flat that he offered £10 million, despite

standard.co.uk/lifestyle ES MAGAZINE 27 there being only 20 years left on the lease. ‘He [Khan] is forcing some of them out,’ a BP personal [sic] directed at how you work,’ he Bernerd quickly accepted. source told the . ‘He doesn’t tell wrote in an e-mail later that day. ‘It’s just a mis- But while Langton runs a demonstrably suc- them to go, but forces them into a position understanding from the beginning. Angel[ik]a cessful business, she is up against the fearsome where they don’t have a serious role left.’ Even- has indicated that the payment shall be released Khan who, despite the credit crunch, is still tually a peace deal was signed in January 2009, upon receipt of the information.’ worth $4 billion, according to Forbes. One has but the episode showed the power of Khan in But the Khans then did not pay. Langton to wonder why she has taken him on. She sighs: one of the world’s biggest oil companies. instructed solicitors who issued a writ. From ‘This is unquestionably a matter of principle. Khan has invested much of his wealth over- that moment the Khans made constant

Khan is very, very, very rich and very power- seas rather than in . In 2006, he bought demands for more information and outside ful. But we are not going to be intimidated.’ two flats in Eaton Square from the family of the experts to be consulted. The case dragged on Like many oligarchs, Khan, 46, started as a late Lord Lever, a former Labour cabinet min- for months and legal costs have spiralled: ‘over

street trader – in his case as a window cleaner ister, for a combined £13.5 million. His wife £120,000 for us and we understand approxi- in Kiev. He made his fortune in the mid-1990s Angelika, a striking blonde former air hostess, mately the same for the Khans,’ says Langton. by linking up with fellow Ukrainian to set up the , which then acquired a lucrative shareholding in the priva- } tisation of the state-owned oil company TNK. Described as tough, ruthless and reclusive, At first the women Khan’s wealth is derived primarily from his got on well. The shareholding in TNK-BP, the $18 billion joint venture set up to exploit Russia’s oilfields. oligarch’s wife adored A keen amateur boxer, Khan carried guns ornate interiors and to business meetings until mid-1999, when a new law banned this practice – according to loved the colours The Economist. He once pulled out a pistol gold and maroon in front of a mayor of a Russian oil town, just to demonstrate inadequate security at City Hall. Today Khan’s office in Moscow is still decorated with his personal gun collection. Details of Khan’s aggressive negotiating ‘These applications demonstrate a cynical style emerged in court documents filed by attempt by wealthy defendants to price the Norex Petroleum, the Canadian oil company claimant out of the courtroom and/or to that has been suing TNK for many years. In a win an adjournment of the trial,’ alleged sworn affidavit, Alex Rotzang, managing Lass Salt Garvin, Langton’s solicitors, in a director of Norex, alleged that Khan physi- witness statement. cally threatened him when they met to In their defence, German and Angelika discuss TNK’s acquisition of Yugraneft, a Khan’s lawyers have strongly denied the Russian subsidiary of Norex. During the allegations and claimed that Langton ‘failed Eastern promises Langton is still seeking payment meeting, Khan told Rotzang that TNK ‘would from Khan for refurbishment work in Eaton Square to complete the work or provide the services run over Yugraneft like a steamroller’ and for which she was contracted’ and ‘failed to ‘eliminate those who go against us’, accord- provide any design concepts or ideas or ing to Rotzang’s affidavit, a claim that has who dresses head-to-toe in Chanel, wanted to drawings which the defendants (the Khans) been vigorously denied. merge the two apartments and use it as a week- could consider and review for approval and In the UK, Khan is best known for his end home. She hired Langton to demolish, comment’. They also claimed that Langton enforcer role in the conflict between TNK and rebuild and decorate the property. ‘produced one storyboard for one room only, BP over control of their joint venture. Last year which was produced extremely late and only he was a key player behind the Russian gov- t first the two women after much pressure from the defendants ernment’s pressure on BP to restructure the got on well. The oli- and their advisors’. company. When BP requested 158 visa renew- garch’s wife made it The dispute will cost hundreds of thousands als for its foreign staff in Russia, Khan only clear that she adored of pounds in legal fees, but Langton is deter- requested 63 from the immigration authorities. ornate interiors and mined to take her case into open court. In effect, this terminated the employment of loved the colours gold For German Khan, money is no issue. On nearly half of BP’s technical experts. In and maroon. The 3 May 2006 he paid $95 million for Dora Maar response, an outraged Bob Dudley, CEO of refurbishment would au Chat, painted by Picasso in 1941. The oli- TNK-BP, tried to sack Khan as the executive be classic Russian OTT opulence. This was garch acquired the painting at Sotheby’s in director, but the requested board meeting Afamiliar territory to Langton and she began New York and made strenuous efforts to dis- never took place. work on the design. But then on 19 April 2007, guise his identity as the purchaser. And then The Russian partners called for Dudley to be Khan terminated the contract, claiming that last year he bought a 13,500sq ft house on Eaton dismissed instead. And then BP’s offices were she ‘was unhappy at not visually being able to Square for £62 million from Lord Harris, the twice raided by the FSB, the Russian security understand the overall concept of the design’. carpet tycoon. He used an offshore company service, and inspected four times by the Labour ‘We were told verbally that we were no longer registered in the Seychelles to make the pur- Ministry. BP’s CEO was interrogated for six on the job – with no explanation,’ says Lang- chase. But such secrecy could be sacrificed if hours at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ton. ‘I was shocked as we had no idea it was his dispute with Langton Interiors is heard in corporate warfare broke out between BP and going to happen. We had received no com- open court next year. TNK. Dudley went into hiding and the BP plaints with regards to the work.’ As for the indomitable Langton, she insists employees were sent home. In August 2008, a Langton was owed around £100,000 and that she never considered swallowing the Moscow court suspended Dudley as CEO for sent the specifications of the work done so far. loss and moving on: ‘It has made my life two years. Meanwhile, Khan was trying to Khan’s property advisor, Brendan Kavanagh, very difficult but I am determined to see this seize control and restructure the joint venture. confirmed that she would be paid. ‘This is not to its conclusion.’

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