Bristol's Grosvenor Hotel developer faces jail after court ruling

Work on Bristol's Grosvenor Hotel should have been completed by September 2017 but building work stopped

The boss of a development firm working in Bristol faces prison after being found guilty of contempt in the High Court.

Grosvenor Property Developers Ltd planned to turn the old Grosvenor Hotel into student flats, raising £7m from investors.

The project was never completed, and liquidators have been investigating what happened for several years.

Sanjiv Varma, a de facto director, has always denied any wrongdoing.

But a judgement on Monday ruled that he breached court orders to disclose assets, and made false statements.

Judge Alan Johns QC dismissed Mr Varma's story that £3.1m of the developer's money was paid to his own Dubai company in 2017 to buy diamonds and jewellery, in an attempt to safeguard investors' money.

'No evidence'

He said: "There is no real evidence of the existence of the jewellery and diamonds."

He also dismissed the idea presented by Mr Varma that he had lost more than £8m in Dubai property transactions.

"This story as to the loss of his wealth is not true," he said. "What I am sure of is that Mr Varma has undisclosed assets."

Sanjiv Varma was photographed by a private investigator, who was instructed by liquidators in the case

The judge added: "There can be little doubt that Mr Varma's false statements have interfered with the court of justice."

Mr Varma attended the hearing via Skype.