Here's the article, for those who don't want to click on the Sun. Interestingly, it includes lots of photos of Ashley, Keegan and Benitez, but not a single one of Jimenez. Does he really exist?
"MIKE'S £3.7M COURT BATTLE Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley accuses his ex-Toon recruitment director Tony Jimenez of fraud
St James' Park supremo is demanding £3.79m after launching a High Court claim against the former Magpies' vice-president
NEWCASTLE owner Mike Ashley has accused his former recruitment director of fraud.
The Toon supremo is demanding £3.79million after launching a High Court claim against Tony Jimenez.
In explosive documents seen by SunSport, which Jimenez “vigorously” denies, Ashley says he handed £3m to him for a golf investment.
Ashley feared Jimenez had failed to invest the money and instead diverted it for personal use.
But Newcastle’s former vice-president (player recruitment) insisted the cash was earmarked to help find a buyer for the club.
Ashley wants his £3m back, plus interest of £793,000. But Jimenez said: “His claim is without foundation and the allegations untrue.”
Family at Wor
MIKE ASHLEY treated Tony Jimenez like a member of his family.
Newcastle’s owner trusted him and listened to him.
Charismatic Londoner Jimenez always had someone waiting on the other end of the phone.
Footballers, fixers, property moguls . . . this super-smooth, silver-tongued charmer appeared to have access to the lot.
Jimenez, a former Chelsea season-ticket holder, seemed like the perfect playmate for Ashley.
When Jimenez was made vice-president of player recruitment at Newcastle, Ashley believed he was the perfect man for the job.
Now they are at war, squabbling in the High Court about a £3million payment Ashley claims to have made in return for a 5.76 per cent stake in a golf course development in Les Bordes, France.
Newcastle will hope manager Rafa Benitez and his newly-promoted squad are not affected by the off-field court case
The 15-page claim lodged at the High Court — and denied by Jimenez, who says it is “without foundation and malicious fiction” — is damning.
It accuses Jimenez, who went on to buy Charlton in 2011, of a string of lies and misrepresentations aimed at extracting the cash from the billionaire Sports Direct owner.
Now Ashley wants his money back, plus £793,000 interest accruing at £233.61 a day. He will not stop until he is paid. He has made that very clear.
In the explosive documents, Ashley relies on a previous High Court case involving former Newcastle executive director of football Dennis Wise.
Jimenez, who was godfather to one of Wise’s sons, was ordered to pay the ex-Chelsea midfielder back after he failed to put £500,000 of his cash into the golf project.
High Court judge Penelope Reed QC said: “His explanation at times was impossible to follow. I have treated the evidence of Mr Jimenez with extreme caution.”
Wise got his money. Now Ashley wants his.
Ashley accuses Jimenez of “fraudulent misrepresentation” and goes on to claim that he “deliberately concealed his fraud” when his solicitor repeatedly asked for updates on the Les Bordes project. How Newcastle could line-up next season as Mikel Merino set to sign
Jimenez later argued Ashley had instructed him to use the £3m to find a buyer for the club. Ashley insists this is untrue. It is a remarkable twist, an ugly end to a relationship.
Ashley was introduced to Jimenez by former Tottenham director Paul Kemsley.
Jimenez had helped bring Sevilla’s Juande Ramos to Spurs, with their cloak-and-dagger pursuit appealing to Ashley.
Jimenez, who speaks Spanish, acted as translator during the negotiations. He was still dining out on that story when Ashley invited him into Newcastle’s inner circle. Suddenly, he was Mr Big around Toon.
Jimenez got to work, bringing in Jonas Gutierrez, Fabricio Coloccini, Xisco and Ignacio Gonzalez in 2008.
Jimenez, undoubtedly, could get things done.
Rafa Benitez guided Newcastle to the Championship title last season but has now seen the club embroiled in a High Court case
They ran into problems when Newcastle realised they had bought a series of duds, players well short of the quality needed to take the club back to the top.
Kevin Keegan, exasperated by the haphazard structure of the club behind the scenes, left as boss in September after one win in the Premier League.
A month later, Jimenez left “to pursue other interests”. By then, Ashley had already forked out £3m to Jimenez, transferring his investment into the Les Bordes project on May 13, 2008.
In the months that followed, Ashley claims he was fobbed off by Jimenez’s lawyers when he made a series of enquiries. England legend Paul Gascoigne returns to old stomping ground for charity match in Newcastle
Ashley’s claim states: “Given the trust and friendship that then subsisted between Mr Ashley and Mr Jimenez, Mr Ashley was content to accept what was being said on behalf of Mr Jimenez and took matters no further.”
It is a very different story now.
Ashley says he has confirmation from Les Bordes owners that the £3m investment into the project was never made. Instead, he believes Jimenez used the cash to fund his own lavish lifestyle and covered his tracks in a tangled web of complicated property deals.
Mike Ashley is involved in a court case just when Newcastle want to focus on football
However, Jimenez countered by insisting that while a property investment was discussed, the investment funds were never provided and that the payment actually relates to management of property investments and Ashley’s failed attempt to sell Newcastle in 2008.
It is all coming out now, with Ashley serving a writ on a man he once considered to be one of his best friends."
The judge in the Wise v Jimenez case said Jimenez wasn't a credible witness, so on balance in this instance, I'd tend to believe Ashley. I still suspect the reason that Kevin Cash stopped putting money into Charlton was due to a falling out with Jimenez. Let's face it many others did.
The judge in the Wise v Jimenez case said Jimenez wasn't a credible witness, so on balance in this instance, I'd tend to believe Ashley. I still suspect the reason that Kevin Cash stopped putting money into Charlton was due to a falling out with Jimenez. Let's face it many others did.
That was widely reported at the time, he was using Cash money for his own projects
hope that part of 3 million wasn't the cash used to buy Powell's successful promotion team .. what I mean is, IF IF it was, then I hope we don't have to pay it back ((:>)
Can't see this case doing Ashley any good. His reputation as a businessman is already in tatters. He may have won his last case against Jeffrey Blue who claimed he'd been promised £15m for raising the share-price of Ashley's business but the anecdotal's of how Ashley behaves as a billionaire businessman were embarrassing. No doubt there will be more to come and more costs for all involved. I have little sympathy for Jimenez and I wonder if he can afford to lose again having had to refund Dennis Wise's £0.5m.
Former brother-in-law went to school with Jimenez. Said he was a nasty bit of work even then - can't imagine he's got any nicer over the years. Him and Ashley are cut from the same cloth - spivs made good.
Quite a turn of events when all the spectators to this case will be rooting for the lawyers to make as much out of it as possible. Spanish Tony's brief better get his money up front. Odious fat oafs like these two deserve each other. Sleeping with dogs? Wake up with fleas
@cabbles or someone might want to consider changing the title to this thread. Ashley and The Sun are free to call it what they like (they have deep pockets), but fraud is a criminal offence and this is a civil case. Just ask why the matter is not with the plod? You'll notice the BBC article uses much calmer language about breach of contract....
MIKE ASHLEY is accused of making insulting comments about the Dubai royal family, the Islamic faith and Kevin Keegan as he prepares for a high-profile legal battle. Ashley claims Jimenez instead took the money for personal use and is proceeding with a High Court claim against the former co-owner of Charlton Athletic.
Dubai resident Jimenez denies the allegations and claims the amount was paid in relation to the pair attempting to sell Newcastle to Middle Eastern investors over a decade ago.
At a hearing yesterday, Jimenez alleged that while in Dubai in September 2008, Ashley scuppered any chances of a sale by “behaving badly” in a bar.
MIKE ASHLEY is accused of making insulting comments about the Dubai royal family, the Islamic faith and Kevin Keegan as he prepares for a high-profile legal battle. Ashley claims Jimenez instead took the money for personal use and is proceeding with a High Court claim against the former co-owner of Charlton Athletic.
Dubai resident Jimenez denies the allegations and claims the amount was paid in relation to the pair attempting to sell Newcastle to Middle Eastern investors over a decade ago.
At a hearing yesterday, Jimenez alleged that while in Dubai in September 2008, Ashley scuppered any chances of a sale by “behaving badly” in a bar.
MIKE ASHLEY is accused of making insulting comments about the Dubai royal family, the Islamic faith and Kevin Keegan as he prepares for a high-profile legal battle. Ashley claims Jimenez instead took the money for personal use and is proceeding with a High Court claim against the former co-owner of Charlton Athletic.
Dubai resident Jimenez denies the allegations and claims the amount was paid in relation to the pair attempting to sell Newcastle to Middle Eastern investors over a decade ago.
At a hearing yesterday, Jimenez alleged that while in Dubai in September 2008, Ashley scuppered any chances of a sale by “behaving badly” in a bar.
MIKE ASHLEY is accused of making insulting comments about the Dubai royal family, the Islamic faith and Kevin Keegan as he prepares for a high-profile legal battle. Ashley claims Jimenez instead took the money for personal use and is proceeding with a High Court claim against the former co-owner of Charlton Athletic.
Dubai resident Jimenez denies the allegations and claims the amount was paid in relation to the pair attempting to sell Newcastle to Middle Eastern investors over a decade ago.
At a hearing yesterday, Jimenez alleged that while in Dubai in September 2008, Ashley scuppered any chances of a sale by “behaving badly” in a bar.
Comments
Interestingly, it includes lots of photos of Ashley, Keegan and Benitez, but not a single one of Jimenez. Does he really exist?
"MIKE'S £3.7M COURT BATTLE Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley accuses his ex-Toon recruitment director Tony Jimenez of fraud
St James' Park supremo is demanding £3.79m after launching a High Court claim against the former Magpies' vice-president
NEWCASTLE owner Mike Ashley has accused his former recruitment director of fraud.
The Toon supremo is demanding £3.79million after launching a High Court claim against Tony Jimenez.
In explosive documents seen by SunSport, which Jimenez “vigorously” denies, Ashley says he handed £3m to him for a golf investment.
Ashley feared Jimenez had failed to invest the money and instead diverted it for personal use.
But Newcastle’s former vice-president (player recruitment) insisted the cash was earmarked to help find a buyer for the club.
Ashley wants his £3m back, plus interest of £793,000. But Jimenez said: “His claim is without foundation and the allegations untrue.”
Family at Wor
MIKE ASHLEY treated Tony Jimenez like a member of his family.
Newcastle’s owner trusted him and listened to him.
Charismatic Londoner Jimenez always had someone waiting on the other end of the phone.
Footballers, fixers, property moguls . . . this super-smooth, silver-tongued charmer appeared to have access to the lot.
Jimenez, a former Chelsea season-ticket holder, seemed like the perfect playmate for Ashley.
When Jimenez was made vice-president of player recruitment at Newcastle, Ashley believed he was the perfect man for the job.
Now they are at war, squabbling in the High Court about a £3million payment Ashley claims to have made in return for a 5.76 per cent stake in a golf course development in Les Bordes, France.
Newcastle will hope manager Rafa Benitez and his newly-promoted squad are not affected by the off-field court case
The 15-page claim lodged at the High Court — and denied by Jimenez, who says it is “without foundation and malicious fiction” — is damning.
It accuses Jimenez, who went on to buy Charlton in 2011, of a string of lies and misrepresentations aimed at extracting the cash from the billionaire Sports Direct owner.
Now Ashley wants his money back, plus £793,000 interest accruing at £233.61 a day. He will not stop until he is paid. He has made that very clear.
In the explosive documents, Ashley relies on a previous High Court case involving former Newcastle executive director of football Dennis Wise.
Jimenez, who was godfather to one of Wise’s sons, was ordered to pay the ex-Chelsea midfielder back after he failed to put £500,000 of his cash into the golf project.
High Court judge Penelope Reed QC said: “His explanation at times was impossible to follow. I have treated the evidence of Mr Jimenez with extreme caution.”
Wise got his money. Now Ashley wants his.
Ashley accuses Jimenez of “fraudulent misrepresentation” and goes on to claim that he “deliberately concealed his fraud” when his solicitor repeatedly asked for updates on the Les Bordes project.
How Newcastle could line-up next season as Mikel Merino set to sign
Jimenez later argued Ashley had instructed him to use the £3m to find a buyer for the club. Ashley insists this is untrue. It is a remarkable twist, an ugly end to a relationship.
Ashley was introduced to Jimenez by former Tottenham director Paul Kemsley.
Jimenez had helped bring Sevilla’s Juande Ramos to Spurs, with their cloak-and-dagger pursuit appealing to Ashley.
Jimenez, who speaks Spanish, acted as translator during the negotiations. He was still dining out on that story when Ashley invited him into Newcastle’s inner circle. Suddenly, he was Mr Big around Toon.
Jimenez got to work, bringing in Jonas Gutierrez, Fabricio Coloccini, Xisco and Ignacio Gonzalez in 2008.
Jimenez, undoubtedly, could get things done.
Rafa Benitez guided Newcastle to the Championship title last season but has now seen the club embroiled in a High Court case
They ran into problems when Newcastle realised they had bought a series of duds, players well short of the quality needed to take the club back to the top.
Kevin Keegan, exasperated by the haphazard structure of the club behind the scenes, left as boss in September after one win in the Premier League.
A month later, Jimenez left “to pursue other interests”. By then, Ashley had already forked out £3m to Jimenez, transferring his investment into the Les Bordes project on May 13, 2008.
In the months that followed, Ashley claims he was fobbed off by Jimenez’s lawyers when he made a series of enquiries.
England legend Paul Gascoigne returns to old stomping ground for charity match in Newcastle
Ashley’s claim states: “Given the trust and friendship that then subsisted between Mr Ashley and Mr Jimenez, Mr Ashley was content to accept what was being said on behalf of Mr Jimenez and took matters no further.”
It is a very different story now.
Ashley says he has confirmation from Les Bordes owners that the £3m investment into the project was never made. Instead, he believes Jimenez used the cash to fund his own lavish lifestyle and covered his tracks in a tangled web of complicated property deals.
Mike Ashley is involved in a court case just when Newcastle want to focus on football
However, Jimenez countered by insisting that while a property investment was discussed, the investment funds were never provided and that the payment actually relates to management of property investments and Ashley’s failed attempt to sell Newcastle in 2008.
It is all coming out now, with Ashley serving a writ on a man he once considered to be one of his best friends."
They give business a bad name
Whatever next lol
Yeah because i'm sure Benitez and the players really give a shit.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11516296/mike-ashley-ruined-newcastle-sale-to-current-manchester-city-owners-says-tony-jimenez
Mike Ashley refused to meet the current owners of Manchester City over the sale of Newcastle United, and ruined another potential deal after he "created a disturbance in a bar" in Dubai, according to the club's former vice-president Tony Jimenez.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/10/02/mike-ashley-bar-disturbance-ruined-potential-sale-newcastle/
Ashley, who also owns sportswear firm Sports Direct, has sued former Charlton Athletic co-owner Tony Jimenez over a 2008 French golf course deal.
He has accused Jimenez of perpetrating fraud and has made a forgery complaint.
Shock horror.
Who would have thought it.
Ashley claims Jimenez instead took the money for personal use and is proceeding with a High Court claim against the former co-owner of Charlton Athletic.
Dubai resident Jimenez denies the allegations and claims the amount was paid in relation to the pair attempting to sell Newcastle to Middle Eastern investors over a decade ago.
At a hearing yesterday, Jimenez alleged that while in Dubai in September 2008, Ashley scuppered any chances of a sale by “behaving badly” in a bar.
And after reportedly slating Dubai royals, the country’s religion and Toon hero Keegan, Ashley is said to have asked Jimenez for help after fearing his antics would see him locked up in jail.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8214430/newcastle-mike-ashley-accused-dubai-islamic/
Tough call that one.
Showing my age.