A man is set to lose 100k after his ex-wife found out about a dark secret he was able to hide for years during their marriage.
It’s not often that a secret ends up costing more than a relationship and some assets in the event of the breakup. But when it comes to Mikhail Kroupeev and Elena Kroupeeva, their divorce came at a massive price to the millionaire.
The couple, who married in 1988 and had two children together, ultimately ended in a dramatic way after 35 years together, with Elena claiming he had cut off her £40,000 monthly allowance as their relationship broke down.
Since 2024, the London Standard reported the pair have been in court battling out the division of his estate after her lawyers claimed Elena deserved three properties Mikhail owns – Including their £14.4 million London home together, then a Russian and Portugal property (£26 million) – as well as £32.1 million in cash.
Advert
While you might be wondering just exactly what was found for Elena to take Mikhail to the cleaners.
Apparently, the Russian had made himself at home in his native country...a little too well.
In the form of living a secret double-life with his second family in Russia – comprising of a wife and child.
Per The Sun, Mikhail appeared in court via video link from Cyprus as he represented himself, and stated that if he is to give up his London and Moscow homes to Elena, he should have to only give her £300,000, as well as a ‘clean break’ from her.
But in the couple’s Thursday ruling (23 April), Deputy High Court Judge James Ewins KC instead ordered the businessman to pay his ex £60 million to his wife, as well as the three properties she wanted.
This comes after the Russian ‘refused’ to allow his businesses to be valued, as Elena’s lawyer, Justin Warshaw KC, claimed Mikhail had a ‘contract to export oil in Syria with oil worth 1.5-2 billion dollars’ and more under his belt.
Mikhail was then found to have committed contempt of court for breaching court orders, as it was found he had owed his ex-wife £800,000.
Sentenced to 28 days in prison, the decision was suspended ‘on terms’ that he complied with the orders for four weeks.
Judge Ewins KC said the payment of £100.6m worth of assets is an ‘affordable’ amount for him to pay, and only ‘requires him to liquidate a fraction of his available financial resources’, despite Mikhail telling the courts he doesn’t have the money.
Britt Jones