Hackers strip Swiss bank account of earl's ex: Account cleared of £93,000 in five separate transactions

The scenario should send shivers down the spine of anyone who has a bank account in Switzerland.

Victoria Chadwick, the former Countess of Normanton, is suing her bank in Gstaad after she claims it transferred £93,000 of her money to fraudsters.

Her account was cleared out in five transactions to banks in Australia, the U.S. and two branches of NatWest in London. The first she says she knew of it was when her Swiss bank manager called her as she was on a day out with her grandchildren in Battersea Park. 

The former Countess of Normanton Victoria Chadwick is suing her bank after she claims it transferred £93,000 of her money to fraudsters (file picture)

The former Countess of Normanton Victoria Chadwick is suing her bank after she claims it transferred £93,000 of her money to fraudsters (file picture)

‘He said he had been trying to get hold of me to ask if it was all right that he had made several bank transfers,’ Victoria, who was married to the Earl of Normanton for 30 years, tells me.

‘I asked him: “What transfers?” I was absolutely shocked. I became hysterical. You can imagine.’

That was eight months ago. Since then, despite the involvement of the fraud squad in London and Interpol, she has not received a penny from Saanen Bank.

‘The fraud squad told me that accounts the money was transferred to were emptied immediately,’ says the mother of three, whose son James, 30, will become the 7th Earl of Normanton and will inherit the 7,000-acre Somerley estate in Hampshire.

Her account was opened in 2004 when Vicki and her second husband — Angelina Ballerina publisher Tim Chadwick — were dividing their time between Switzerland and London. Vicki says she would email the bank to transfer funds. ‘It was always for relatively small amounts for housekeeping and if  anything appeared unusual, the bank would always contact me.’

Despite the involvement of the fraud squad in London and Interpol, she has not received a penny from Saanen Bank

Despite the involvement of the fraud squad in London and Interpol, she has not received a penny from Saanen Bank

Her account was cleared out in five transactions to banks in Australia, the U.S. and two branches of NatWest in London (file picture)

Her account was cleared out in five transactions to banks in Australia, the U.S. and two branches of NatWest in London (file picture)

But she claims she was hacked last year and a fraudster instructed the bank to move virtually all her funds. Says Vicki: ‘The sums were huge and red flags should have immediately flashed up. The bank manager says he did email me but as my email had been hacked I never received it.’

Since then, she has spent £25,000 trying to recover her money. ‘If it were a British bank, I would have almost immediately been refunded,’ says Vicki, who previously sued the wealth management division of another Swiss bank, UBS, for breach of duty after £650,000 of her divorce settlement from Lord Normanton was lost, she claims, because of poor advice.

Says Saanen’s chief executive Jurg von Allmen: ‘Our clients’ affairs are secret so I cannot comment.’

 

Divorce for diamond heiress

Split: Thirteen years after diamond heiress Emily Oppenheimer married film producer Will Turner, the marriage appears to have hit the buffers

Split: Thirteen years after diamond heiress Emily Oppenheimer married film producer Will Turner, the marriage appears to have hit the buffers

The floral displays at their ‘ultimate country wedding’ were said to be so flamboyant they would have ‘made Elton John jealous’. 

But 13 years after diamond heiress Emily Oppenheimer married film producer Will Turner, the marriage appears to have hit the buffers.

According to court papers the couple, who have a young son together, are listed to be divorced in the High Court today.

Former Harpers & Queen columnist Emily, 45, granddaughter of the late De Beers chief Sir Philip Oppenheimer, is no fan of court rooms.

Fifteen years ago, Emily, who also paints abstract art, said she was ‘heartbroken’ to miss Royal Ascot, a highlight in her social calendar, because she had to do jury service.

Once the flame of actor Jason Donovan, Emily, daughter of racehorse owner Anthony Oppeneimer, will need to amend her Facebook profile, which says she is ‘married’ to former Sky Pictures boss Turner, also  45.

He is an old colleague of David Cameron from the Prime Minister’s PR days with Carlton TV, and both are members of the Chipping Norton set of media figures that swirl around the Camerons.

Emily’s glossy clique of friends includes Jemima Khan and model Yasmin Le Bon, who both attended her glittering nuptials.

 

Surely the BBC hasn’t sunk so low in the estimation of the Royal Family that Prince William chose to give his first interview about Prince George to a U.S. network?

Prince Charles famously described the Beeb’s Nicholas Witchell as ‘that awful man’ but William, I am told, does not share his father’s view. So why was CNN chosen?

I am told: ‘CNN is financing a documentary on the Prince’s Tusk Trust charity so they got the interview, that’s all.’  No mention of the British taxpayer who is financing renovations to his marital home at Kensington Palace.

 

Monty’s girl tees off as a teacher

Very proud: Olivia's mother Eimear said, 'It's an absolute vocation and I am incredibly proud of her'

Very proud: Olivia's mother Eimear said, 'It's an absolute vocation and I am incredibly proud of her'

She’s been brought up in the lap of luxury, but the pretty eldest daughter of golfing star Colin Montgomerie has got her heart set on a career as a teacher.

‘This has come a bit out of the blue,’ says 20-year-old Olivia’s mother Eimear. ‘But yes, she  wants to be a primary school mistress.

‘As far as we know we don’t have anything like this in the family, so it’s a mystery where she gets it from.’

Eimear, 43, was married to Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie for 14 years. After three children they divorced in 2006. Eimear has since married millionaire aviation entrepreneur Nick Cook, 60.

‘My two youngest are still at school and Olivia is looking for sponsorship so she can go on a trip round Australia,’ Eimear tells me at a polo tournament.

‘When she gets back she will put her heart and soul into helping little children — she doesn’t mind when they play up!

‘It’s an absolute vocation and I am incredibly proud of her.’

 

The heat is on for former BBC director-general Mark Thompson. Not only does he face a grilling from MPs next month over vast pay-offs to executives, he’s also about to get dragged back into the scandal over the dropping of Newsnight’s investigation into Jimmy Savile.

Tory MP Rob Wilson has written to Nick Pollard, who chaired a £3 million BBC review of the decision, asking him to correct part of his ‘deeply misleading’ report in which he accepted Thompson’s claims that he never knew of plans to broadcast the probe. Lawyers acting for the Beeb’s (then) head of news Helen Boaden claim she told Thompson of the piece in December 2011, a fact Pollard chose to ignore.

Writes Wilson: ‘Your report is deeply misleading in this respect and it remains troubling that you were prepared to accept Mr Thompson’s version of events but to keep Ms Boaden’s testimony . . . secret.’

Wilson has sent copies of the letter to BBC chiefs Lord Hall, Lord Patten and non-executive director Dame Fiona Reynolds, who set up the Pollard inquiry, meaning they will now have to react.

Former BBC director-general Mark Thompson could be about to get dragged back into the scandal over the dropping of Newsnight's investigation into Jimmy Savile

Former BBC director-general Mark Thompson could be about to get dragged back into the scandal over the dropping of Newsnight's investigation into Jimmy Savile

 

Just as Jeremy Paxman has  changed his mind about his beard, saying it makes him look like Albert Steptoe, Cheryl Cole is also  having trouble with excess hair — only hers is on her legs.

The former X Factor judge and Girls Aloud warbler complains: ‘Being dark is a problem for me.  I can shave my legs the night before and wake up in the morning with stubble.

‘I’m going to start getting them waxed but it’s so painful.’

On the bright side, Cheryl, 30, recommends dry body brushing.

‘I exfoliate regularly,’ she trills. Too much information.

 

PS...

With publication of the first pictures of the infant Prince George, a decision will have to be made soon on whether Prince William and his son can travel on the same aircraft. Since 1985, William and Prince Charles have not been allowed to fly together.

The Queen has only relented once, in 2002, when the Queen Mother died, and gave them permission to fly home from a Swiss skiing holiday.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge plan to travel Down Under next year. So will George have to go on a separate flight from his father, creating extra expense? Maybe they should book with Qantas, which boasts it has never lost a passenger.



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