Socialite James Stunt today told a court about his gilded life of luxury before becoming embroiled in a £207 million international money laundering operation and collapsing into bankruptcy.
He and his ‘staggeringly wealthy’ ex-wife, Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone, spent £69 million in seven years while he gambled millions in the world’s swankiest casinos, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Stunt detailed his huge charitable donations and how his generosity earned him a private audience with the Prince of Wales, now the King.
The son of a wealthy businessman, he was protected by bodyguards from the age of 16, attended business school with European royals, children of oligarchs and was mentored by n tycoon Kerry Packer.
But the 42-year-old, who had three children with Ms Ecclestone before they divorced in 2017, paid the price for his high-rolling lifestyle with addictions to a variety of drugs, a jury was told.
Stunt also told the court his problems meant he had not seen his children for years as the split had become ‘acrimonious.’
And as his life spiralled out of control his offices were raided by police and ‘all his worldly goods’ frozen by a court order that remains in force today.
Stunt and four co-defendants all deny money laundering. The prosecution claim they were involved in an operation to turn ‘dirty’ money into ‘clean’ gold.
James Stunt made huge charity donations during his marriage to wealthy heiress Petra Ecclestone and his generosity earnt him an audience with King Charles, the court heard.
With access to a fortune in cash, Stunt made specific donations totalling £2.2 million, which he said he kept anonymous at the time and he was now revealing as part of his defence evidence.
The Prince’s Trust was a charity he gave at least £65,000 to and the court heard Stunt was granted a private audience with the Prince of Wales, now the King.
A photograph showing the two men smiling and posing together was shown to the jury.
Stunt confirmed to his KC that the photograph was in a frame in his London office when it was raided by police investigating an alleged money laundering operation.
The court heard Stunt also donated £50,000 to the Great Steward of Scotland Dumfries House, that the King has a connection with.
Detailing further charity donations, Stunt revealed he gave £361,000 to Unicef UK, £315,000 to a charity to help children with special needs run by the businessman John Caudwell and £250,000 to a foundation at his former boarding school, Bradfield School.
The Elton John Aids Foundation received £250,000 of Stunt’s cash and he gave £220,000 to the Aspinall Foundation, concerned with wildlife conservation in Africa.
Great Ormond Street Hospital in London was given £118,000 and he also donated to a trust at Harrow School for under-privileged children.
A charity run by Princess Charlene of Monaco received thousands of pounds.
Stunt also told the jury about a grand charity dinner his company sponsored at a cost of £300,000. The court heard the Prince of Wales was guest speaker.
Many wealthy families attended the event known as ‘the Ormeley dinner.’
Stunt donated two gold bars to raise money for charity. ‘I made them the most beautiful bars on earth, I was so proud of them,’ he said.
He said he bid £250,000 for his own gold bars and said if anyone outbid him he would donate the cash for free. Tycoon Nick Candy bought the gold, the court heard.
Stunt made a similar £150,000 for a stay on Richard Branson’s Necker Island and again donated the cash after another bidder took up his challenge to outbid him.
The cash went to a ‘wonderful’ wildlife preservation charity to help endangered species, he said.
The case continues.
Vast amounts of ‘criminal cash’ were allegedly paid into the bank accounts of a Bradford-based company Fowler Oldfield Ltd, dealing in precious metals and jewellery.
This effectively bypassed official checks into the source of the money, which was then used to buy gold, the jury was told.
The court heard Stunt had no criminal convictions until he was convicted in April last year of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to a black police officer who was involved in a raid on his London home.
Stunt admitted calling the officer an ‘Uncle Tom’ and he said: ‘I accept the conviction and did the community service. I apologise to the officer.’
He added: ‘There’s not a racist bone in my body.’
Stunt’s KC took him through the story of his life.
As a 16-year-old he was living alone in his father’s Chelsea Harbour flat in London, protected by bodyguards, he called his ‘security nannies.’
After years of boarding school and private education, he spent six years at an elite business school in London.
Stunt told the court the Regent’s Business School was a ‘who’s who of multiple heads of state, child oligarchs and children of oligarchs and European royal families.’
Kerry Packer, the n businessman, was a mentor. ‘I spent four or five years being tutored by him,’ Stunt said.
‘I tried to emulate him, he was my idol for multiple reasons. He was so down-to-earth, the coolest.’
Stunt said he met his future wife Petra in 2008 and they married in 2011 in a grand castle wedding in Italy, attended by 400 guests, including royals, movie and pop stars.
He told the court he insisted on signing a pre-nuptial agreement that meant he would get only £16m of his wife’s enormous wealth if they divorced.
When that happened six years later Stunt said he received £10m as his father-in-law Bernie Ecclestone paid out millions to settle a claim by a bank in connection with Stunt’s gold manufacturing business.
The couple lived in a huge mansion in Los Angeles – which has not been burnt down in the recent fires – and had an army of domestic staff.
Stunt said he never worked during their marriage. Together the couple managed to spend £69m in seven years on ‘investments, fine wine, art, cars and properties.’
Talking about married life, he described himself as a ‘Luddite and techphobe.’
Stunt said he has never had an email address and anyone wishing to email him during his marriage would contact his wife who would read it to him and reply on his behalf.
‘She would joke she was the richest unpaid PA on earth,’ he said.
In similar vein his phone couldn’t use the internet and was used for texts and calls only.
He said he was once ‘exceptionally close’ to Mr Ecclestone but the divorce ended their relationship. ‘I don’t blame him, he is going to side with his daughter,’ he said.
Stunt also confessed he hadn’t seen his daughter aged 10 and eight-year-old twin boys for years ‘It will be resolved at the end of the trial God willing.’
His KC Trevor Burke also asked Stunt about his ‘addictions’ that had played a significant part in his life.
Stunt said he has suffered from ADHD from the age of 11 and is currently prescribed a form of the drug Ritalin as well as Valium. He is also dyslexic and suffers from dyscalculia, meaning he struggles with numbers.
He told the court he has taken Valium since suffering a panic attack at the 2008 Monza grand prix and being injected with the drug by the Formula One doctor.
A back injury in 2015 led to him being addicted to the painkiller tramadol, the court heard. ‘It’s basically a legal heroin,’ said Stunt.
Between the ages of 16 and 40 he said he smoked up to 50 cigarettes a day and now vaped.
Gambling was another addiction but he told the jury he made a profit over the years. ‘Ironically I am one of the few gamblers who is not down,’ he said.
‘I had a £5 million credit in every casino in the world.’
After his divorce and the collapse of his business Stunt said he became a cocaine addict at the age of 36. The drug was supplied by a bodyguard and he took it ‘pretty much every day,’ he said.
During this period his parents ceased contact and imposed ‘tough love,’ he said.
In 2020 Stunt was admitted to hospital on a number of occasions after taking ‘accidental overdoses,’ the court heard.
He said he ‘almost died’ of sepsis during the pandemic in June 2020.
‘I decided to quit cocaine and I did. I have been abstinent ever since.’
Instead he ‘resumed prescription medication for anxiety. Stunt told the court he was ‘in lockdown’ even before everyone followed in the pandemic.
‘I was a bit like Howard Hughes, I never went out and stayed at home.’
Other traumatic events in his life were revealed in court.
Stunt said burglars raided his London home and stole £40m of jewellery which was not insured. One of his bodyguards was later convicted in relation to the raid, the court heard.
Then in 2020 Stunt and his girlfriend Helena Robinson endured a terrifying raid at their Knightsbridge home, the court heard.
Masked gunmen ‘garrotted and pistol-whipped me’ and held a gun to his girlfriend’s head, he said. They escaped with a £500,000 watch.
Stunt said he ‘attempted to chase after them’ and went outside to find a ‘waiting police car.’ The raiders were never caught, the court heard.
The once wealthy socialite effectively lost everything after police raided his business and accused him of money laundering criminal cash.
A court order in 2018 froze all his assets, including 100 works of art, fine wine worth millions, eight cars, six properties and cash.
He was initially given a £1,000 weekly allowance and was ‘bankrupt for a year.’
‘I lost all my homes and am dependent on my father,’ he said.
Stunt said his assets would remain frozen until the end of the trial.
‘It’s completely ruined my life,’ he added.
Stunt, 42, Gregory Frankel, 47, Daniel Rawson, 47, Haroon Rashid, 54, and Arjun Babber, 32, all deny money laundering.
The case continues