Family Feud at the Ritz
The iconic London hotel, The Ritz, was sold earlier this year for £750 million, but legal battles have ensued surrounding possible bugging and eavesdropping.
85 year old Sir Frederick Barclay and daughter Amanda allege that his nephew, Alistair, one of the sons of Frederick’s twin brother, David, had placed a covert listening device in the conservatory of the Ritz hotel, according to court documents, a location where Sir Frederick liked to enjoy a cigar and private time with his daughter.
One person close to the potential Ritz sale said there seemed to be multiple parallel processes under way, being handled by different brokers and members of the family. The complexity helps to explain the desire for one party to eavesdrop on the other.
The High Court judge overseeing the case said the covert bugs yielded “a wealth of confidential business information”. Sir Frederick said he had received “a number of competing offers” for The Ritz in excess of £1 billion. He said that a sale below that price gives rise to “further litigation”.
In February, Sir Frederick’s lawyers served Alistair with a court order at his doorstep. It gave him a week to hand over the fruits of what was described as an “elaborate covert recording system”. This included three months and over 94 hours worth of voice files and transcripts.
An attorney representing Sir Frederick and Amanda, said the recordings ‘captured over 1,000 separate conversations over a period of months’, including conversations with their lawyers as well as ‘bankers and business people’.
Similar wireless bugging device.
He said that ‘a separate Wi-Fi bug was also used’ which was supplied by private investigations firm Quest Global, which ‘invoiced for 405 hours of their time to listen and transcribe the recordings’, with transcripts later ‘shared among the defendants and others’.
Sir Frederick has just released the video that allegedly shows Alistair Barclay handling a bugging device at the Ritz hotel on 13 January this year. The recording shows Mr Barclay inserting a plug adapter, which is claimed to contain a listening device, into a socket.
The video itself appears to be made from a covert camera device sitting on a shelf or table, but reports are not clear if the video was part of the eavesdropping scheme or if it was made on Sir Frederick’s behalf to help catch the eavesdroppers. Alistair Barclay can be seen toward the end of the clip apparently adjusting the position of the camera device.
Here are a few lessons that can be learned from this incident:
- Electronic eavesdropping is a current, active threat.
- Private conversations can be very valuable!
- Those who may have been trusted previously may not be trustworthy anymore.
- Private locations are vulnerable.
- Locations where business conversations take place are a target.
- Even if one device is discovered, there may be more.
More background can be found in the following reference articles: