Highlights
- Sanjeev Soosaipillai has received court approval to sell or mortgage one of his St George's Hill estate properties despite having his assets frozen by creditors.
- The Soosaipillais spent £18.3 m buying three properties on the luxury Surrey estate since 2014.
- Soosaipillai denies allegations that he breached his fiduciary duty.
Soosaipillai's assets were frozen as part of a breach of fiduciary duty case brought against him by administrators working on behalf of creditors following the collapse of his oil business.
A spokesman for Soosaipillai told The Times that he denied any allegation that he breached his fiduciary duty.
It is understood his liabilities are unconnected with the insolvent companies and that he has not been directed to pay any money to parties connected with the administration.
Luxury property portfolio
The Soosaipillais have spent a total of £18.3 m buying three properties on the St George's Hill estate since 2014, according to Land Registry documents.
The property earmarked for a possible sale is a 15,921 square foot mansion previously described as a "palatial mansion with far-reaching panoramic views."
Marketing materials by Savills describe the "handsome, turreted" property as having an indoor pool, sauna, gym and "discrete staff accommodation," with a "meticulously landscaped" garden featuring a greenhouse and an orangery.
Soosaipillai purchased it for £7.8 m in February 2022. The couple's second property on the estate is a four-bedroom house with a sauna, pool and three garages, bought for £6 m in October 2022. They also own a manor purchased for £4.5 m in August 2014.
The Soosaipillais bought the Prax Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire from French oil major TotalEnergies in 2021, going on to acquire a North Sea oil producer and a network of petrol stations in an ambitious attempt to build an oil business to rival the likes of BP.
However, court documents reveal the refinery was running on "dated units and equipment" requiring a "highly expensive turnaround."
The collapse was further compounded when the only staff member with extensive refinery turnaround experience left at short notice.
Restructuring advisers placed Soosaipillai's companies into administration last year as part of a process that saw the refinery placed into taxpayer-managed insolvency.
