Woman made discovery on husband's laptop that has earned her £6.6 million 23 years after their divorce

A woman has opened up about how she spent 23 years fighting her wealthy husband for a fair divorce, even training to become a lawyer herself during this time.

Varsha Gohil has appeared on This Morning to discuss the case, having divorced her husband in 2002 and got just £270,000 and a Peugeot 206.

Whilst this may be a life-changing sum of money for many, this was pittance compared to what her husband Bhadresh was really worth, having once bragged in front of her at a party that he was the richest man in the room and was worth £10 million.

This admission, which shocked Varsha, ended up forming part of the basis for her legal claim that he had actually hid assets for her.

Varsha trained to be a lawyer and led the legal battle for 23 years, often representing herself in court, facing appeals, appeals to appeals, and even having to contend with an ongoing criminal case against Bhadresh which delayed proceedings.

During a two-month trial against her ex-husband in 2010 where he was found guilty of money laundering and fraud, the Crown Prosecution Service froze over £35 million in assets.

He had told her during initial divorce proceedings that he earned £30,000 a year and owned no property, claiming to have a savings account he had joint interest in with his parents worth £590,000 in Switzerland.

In her appearance on the ITV show Varsha said she ‘hadn’t had a life’ during the legal process, saying: “All I was doing was shielding the children in the hope that they would have a bit of a normal life.”

When she decided to divorce Bhadresh she did so when he was away and upon his return he ‘flew into a rage’ according to an interview with The Times, locking her out the house and refusing to provide their children with their clothes.

She describing staying at her parent’s place, sharing a triple bunk bed with her youngest children, and having no access to money.

Varsha’s divorce came about after discovering a double life being led by her husband, including an affair he was having.

She found email exchanges with a woman, hotel bookings, and that he had been on holiday at a five star resort in India rather than on a ‘work trip’ as she believed.

Speaking to The Times she said: “I had chest pains when I saw those emails. It broke me because I just thought, ‘What? Have I been living a lie?’ I was just devastated.

“I could not live with injustice, injustice is the worst thing, it impacts your soul. You can live with betrayal but not injustice.

“I am quite spiritual and in our Hindu culture we believe we have our own destiny. There is no point going forward in life looking at the past, I want peace. I think you should just get on and do the best you can. And that’s what I’ve done.

“I wouldn’t be here if all of this didn’t happen. I wouldn’t have studied law. I would have maybe still been a Stepford Wife. I am so happy that my children have not grown up under the influence of this man.

“So when I look back, I’m just so happy that it all happened now. I can look back in a positive way because the end has been decided and it’s positive.”

Varsha went to see a solicitor and was asked by them whether she was aware of the ‘Stepford Wives’, and hadn’t realised she was living as one until that moment.

Now though, she won £6.6 million in the ruling and actually changed the law for women who are married to men who try to hide their wealth in court.