Baugur fake invoices claim

ICELANDIC group Baugur's agreed £59m takeover of Hamleys has been overshadowed by fresh details of fraud allegations dogging its owner Jon Asgeir Johannesson.

As part of a legal dispute with Baugur, estranged business partner Jon Sullenberger claims to have submitted a fake promise to pay Baugur £370,000 to make its finances look better.

He says he lodged a further 33 fake invoices to disguise payments on a £690,000 yacht in Miami owned by Johannesson and his father. Sullenberger claims he made mortgage payments on the yacht and billed Baugur for 'services'. Earlier he alleged Johannesson used a company credit card to pay for girls from escort agencies.

The dispute surfaced last year when Baugur was trying to take over clothing retailer Arcadia. An Icelandic police probe caused Baugur to withdraw from the bid. Baugur scorned Sullenberger's claims as 'an attack by a disgruntled former business partner'. It is suing him for £370,000 for missing and damaged merchandise. Hamleys, which agreed Baugur's bid last week, said the dispute had no relevance.