Hedge fund boss Crispin Odey ‘groped junior banker at Chelsea home’ during private meeting, court hears

Hedge fund boss Crispin Odey lunged at and groped a junior female banker after inviting her back to his Chelsea home to “further her career”, a court heard.

Odey, 62, is accused of indecently assaulting the woman in the summer of 1998, after suggesting they go for a drink following a business meeting at the City bank where she worked.

She claims Odey went away to shower and slipped into a robe, before grabbing her breasts and putting his hand up her skirt, Hendon magistrates court heard.

Odey, who was married at the time, accepts propositioning the woman but denies any physical assault took place, suggesting she has held a “grudge” against him.

Prosecutor Kerry Broome said Odey, the millionaire founder of Odey Asset Management, met the junior bank worker during a client meeting in 1998.

“At the meeting Mr Odey showed an interest in (her), he invited her to his home later so he could help her understand aspects of his business further and, she hoped, further her career”, said Ms Broome.

“This was an opportunity that any junior sales person, a junior member of the bank, would have taken, given Mr Odey’s position and the fact he was extremely successful.”

Mr Broome said the woman, in her mid-20s, went to a pub with Odey, and when it was crowded he suggested they go to his home in Swan Walk, Chelsea.

“Mr Odey was married and she anticipated his wife would be present at the home address”, she said.

“When they got there, the house was in fact empty with just the two of them there.

“(She) remembered him suggesting they order a takeaway and going to change into something more comfortable.

“He returned wearing a robe, having obviously showered. But this time she was somewhat concerned but she didn’t anticipate what was about to happen.

“She remembers she was sitting in a booth-type seat, next to a table, so she was blocked in.

“Mr Odey sat next to her, and at that point he lunged at her, putting his hand on her breasts through her shirt. He had his other hand on her back and then he put his hand up her skirt.”

Mr Broome said the woman was “shocked and scared”, she “wrestled” herself free and then swiftly left the house.

The court heard the woman complained about the incident to her bosses at the time, but she felt the bank “did not take this really very seriously”.

She reported the alleged incident with Odey to police in 2017 along with a second allegation, that she had been groped on a train by another man following a corporate day out to the Rugby World Cup in 1999.

When questioned, Odey said he was “attracted” to the woman and “hoped the evening would lead to something”.

He claimed to have told the woman they would “end up in bed hopefully”, but she was “appalled and he had misread the signals”.

“He accepted he shouldn’t have propositioned her, but he did not physically assaulted her”, added the prosecutor, saying Odey will accused the woman of “exaggerating what happened”.

Harrow and Oxford-educated Odey was a supporter of Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his 2019 Conservative leadership campaign.

The hedge fund boss was also an outspoken supporter of Brexit, and has donated at least £1.7 million to the Tory party over the course of the last decade.

In November last year Odey, who is worth an estimated $800 million, stepped down as chief executive of the fund he found in 1991.

He has garnered a reputation as a bearish fund manager, who netted more than £220 million from the Brexit referendum by betting against the pound.

The Standard exclusively revealed last July how Odey had been charged with indecent assault.

He denies the charge, and the two-day trial in front of District Judge Nicholas Rimmer continues.