Debt-ridden council accuses solar tycoon of blowing £150m of its cash on luxury lifestyle including £14m yacht, £9m private jet and £20m on country estate By Elizabeth Haigh Published: 15:03, 16 August 2024 | Updated: 15:09, 16 August 2024 e-mail 16 View comments A debt-ridden council has accused a Dubai-based solar tycoon of blowing £150 million of its cash on his luxury lifestyle, including by purchasing his own yacht and private jet. A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.7 million on a new yacht, £9.
1 million on a private jet and another £20 million on a 232-acre country estate in Hampshire. The council invested some £400 million in bonds for a green energy scheme involving solar farms run by Kavanagh and his company Rockfire Capital, and racked up debts totalling more than £1.4 billion.
It initially invested £268m, and claims it then went on to invest more cash based on 'fraudulent misrepresentations' and that Kavanagh deliberately ensured 'completely unrealistic' electricity prices were used to increase the farms' value. A High Court judge first questioned the integrity of the scheme after it came to light that Kavanagh and his company had pocketed £5 million in 'commission'. A High Court lawsuit by Thurrock Council in Essex, which declared itself bankrupt in 2022, claims Liam Kavanagh spent £13.
7 million on a new yacht, £9.1 million on a private jet and another £20 million.