UK Financier Falls to Death after Divorce Battle

LONDON (AP) — The death of a financier whose body was found impaled on railings outside his luxury London apartment isn’t being treated as suspicious, police said Thursday.

Scot Young’s body was found Monday outside his apartment in central London. Officers were called to the scene after receiving reports that a man had fallen from a fourth-floor window.

The 52-year-old property investor and financier was embroiled for more than six years in a multimillion-dollar divorce battle with ex-wife Michelle, 50. She claimed he was hiding huge assets in one of Britain’s most lengthy and public divorce cases.

A High Court judge sentenced Young to six months in jail in 2013 for disobeying orders to hand over details of his fortune, worth allegedly 400 million pounds ($628 million).

The Youngs were married for 12 years and had two daughters together. They separated in 2006.

During the drawn-out divorce court battle, Scot Young claimed he was bankrupt and couldn’t pay Michelle Young a 27,500-pound monthly maintenance fee ordered by a judge. He said he had suffered a financial “meltdown” and was heavily in debt.

But Michelle Young claimed that he had hidden “enormous assets” and her lawyer said he lived a playboy lifestyle.

Several high-profile figures were drawn into the case. Philip Green, the retail tycoon who owns Topshop, testified about loaning money to Scot Young. The late Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky denied claims he helped Young hide his assets.

A judge had described the case as extraordinary and said that over the years Michelle Young had run up about 6 million pounds in legal bills.

Young’s girlfriend, Noelle Reno, a 30-year-old American model, said in a statement she was “distraught.” Officials said Thursday that a coroners’ inquest into the cause of death is planned. No date has been set.