SFO drops Vincent Tchenguiz investigation

Vincent Tchenguiz and his younger brother Robert have been at the centre of a 30 month investigation by the SFO into the 2008 collapse of Kaupthing, the Icelandic bank.

The men were arrested in high-profile dawn raids in March 2011. But the SFO has had to concede factual errors with the evidence it used to obtain search warrants against the brothers.

Last month a judicial review was launched into the way the investigation had been conducted.

No judgment has been made in the review and the SFO is continuing its investigation into Robert Tchenguiz.

The Financial Times reported that in a letter sent to Vincent Tchenguiz yesterday afternoon, the agency said it no longer considered there were “reasonable grounds for suspicion against” him and that it had asked the City of London Police to cancel his bail.

Vincent Tchenguiz said: “It is nearly 15 months since the SFO had me arrested – in a publicity-driven dawn raid. Since that time, I have maintained my innocence. I have consistently explained to the SFO that they had got it completely wrong – but, as their investigation collapsed around their ears, they stubbornly maintained that they regarded me as a suspected.”