A billionaire has been forced to sell his mansion after falling into hundreds of millions of pounds in debt and claiming that he was made by bankrupt by a drug cartel.
Entrepreneur Bob Bull, was last year estimated to be worth close to £2 billion when he opened the doors to his mansion to celebrate being number 88 on the UK rich list.
Mr Bull spoke of how he made his fortune by transforming static caravan parks into bungalow villages with his business Royal Life.
After going bankrupt in 2016, to the point where he was ‘too poor to afford a KFC’, the father-of-two built the business and is thought to have accumulated the huge wealth, including a range of supercars.
But these have now been repossessed and are selling up their mansion near Southampton, Hampshire, up for sale, as the billionaire is reportedly £725 million in debt.
This is is due, Mr Bull alleged, to a campaign of hate by the Kinahan Cartel, a notorious Irish drugs gang with links to deadly South American cartels.
He told The Sun newspaper: ‘These people have taken me to the limits of my life and my wife says “I’m there for you”… If the judge who heard the bankruptcy knew I was the victim of criminality I think the bankruptcy would have been thrown out.’
The father, originally from Manchester, tried to refinance his business, thought to be worth around £4 billion.
The £2.8 billion package – the biggest real estate deal in Europe – collapsed after the lender suddenly pulled out last minute.
Mr Bull said that, out of desperation, he borrowed £3 million from a millionaire, who turned out to be a member of an organised crime group with rumoured links to The Kinahan Organised Crime Group also known as the Kinahan Cartel.
Sanctions were issued against the Kinahans by the US Treasury department in recent years and officials compared the group to the mafia and Mexican cartels.
The money that Mr Bull borrowed was to be paid back within four weeks with an interest of £3 million a month. This spiralled into the father being told to pay back a whopping £42 million – and Mr Bull claims he was reminded of this through intimidation and kidnap threats.
The Sun reported how he, his family and his staff say they were victims of beatings, kidnap threats and fraud.
A thug knocked his wife unconscious before stealing the keys to Mr Bull’s £450,000 Rolls-Royce.
He hired a team of former Scotland Yard detectives to compile a dossier on his nightmare – which was handed to Hampshire Police.
They concluded that he had been a ‘victim of a conspiracy to defraud him, to destroy his £4 billion caravan, bungalow and holiday parks business’.
The documents go on to say: ‘This group is feared because of its use of extreme violence, including murder, against rivals. In Mr Bull’s case they lost no time in using the menace of violence by the Irish cartel as a means of reinforcing unwarranted demands, as well as issuing their own threats of violence and kidnapping…’
In December, court papers showed how Mr Bull hoped to enter an arrangement to pay off his debts at just 0.25 per cent.
‘It is not a great return to the creditors, but it is a return,’ Ben Channer, a lawyer acting on behalf of Mr Bull said.
Now, the mansion where Mr Bull and his then fiancée Sara Nilsen lived – with a bowling alley and a £4 million collection of 12 super cars – has gone up for sale for over £6 million.
The property on Botley Road, Curdridge, Hampshire has been listed as having six bedrooms with an suite and eight bathrooms.
The Georgian style property sits on 9.12 acres of gated grounds and includes a garage for six cars.
It includes a pool with steam room and spa, gym, games room with a three lane bowling alley as well as a cinema room with seating for eight, among other things.
A description of the house on property portal Rightmove said: ‘The property has been thoughtfully designed and offers a luxury and versatile home, suited for entertaining on a grand scale and family living alike.
‘On entering you are aware that this is no ordinary home, the reception hall is vast with a central split flight staircase to the first and second floor.’
‘The reception areas are all situated to the rear of the property overlooking the extensive gardens.
‘There are three reception rooms in this area along with a fabulous open plan family/kitchen/breakfast room, this area alone extends to some 3,510 sqft in total with a wine wall, Clive Christian kitchen with an oversized island unit with breakfast bar and an extensive range of Miele appliances.’
The following month a court made him bankrupt, claiming he owes three-quarters of a billion pounds.
He told the newspaper, he was angry and fighting back to overturn the bankruptcy and secured over £1 billion of funding to get the business back on its feet.
He said: ‘If I don’t appeal the bankruptcy, I’m finished’
