The socialite daughter of a leading British banker lied to obtain £27,000 a month in child support from an ex-lover, a court was told yesterday.
Annabelle Bond, whose father Sir John Bond was chairman of HSBC, was given the money by Warren Lichtenstein to care for their five-year-old daughter Isabella.
But the US hedge fund manager is suing, claiming the payments were far too high and the money went on her extravagant lifestyle.
Mr Lichtenstein, who is thought to be worth £630million, claims he was given ‘false statements’ about the cost of Miss Bond’s lifestyle in Hong Kong, where she lives and where the settlement was agreed.
In his lawsuit lodged in New York he brands the 44-year-old an ‘embittered schemer’ who ‘manipulated the legal process’ in her favour.
He claims she moved from ‘one millionaire lover to another to support her lavish lifestyle’ and then chose a third wealthy target to cover her legal bills.
It is alleged Miss Bond misled the Hong Kong court that awarded her £27,000 a month, a sum treble that previously agreed by a British court.
She is said to have claimed the £2.2million given her by her new boyfriend, Andrew Cader, was a loan that needed to be repaid rather than a gift.
Mr Lichtenstein, 46, also claims she was wrong to claim her £16,000-a-month lease on the luxury home she shares with Mr Cader in the wealthy Strawberry Hill district of Hong Kong was another loan.
The lawsuit states Miss Bond and 54-year-old Mr Cader ‘schemed to manipulate the legal process employed in a court proceeding now pending in Hong Kong to achieve a financial windfall’ by making her look poorer than she was.
Mr Lichtenstein says the loans were in fact gifts, meaning she needs less child support.
In the most damaging passage of the lawsuit, Mr Lichtenstein says: ‘Miss Bond looks to improve upon her already extraordinary life of leisure, luxury, privilege and modest fame, first afforded to her by her parents – Sir John and Lady Elizabeth Bond.
‘Miss Bond has gone from one millionaire lover to another, spending millions of dollars of their money to support her lavish lifestyle, and has then moved on to her next wealthy lover or lovers to support her and finance her litigation efforts.
'Their (Miss Bond’s and Mr Cader’s) conduct manifests not only a gross abuse of process and a plain and simple act of injustice – but also, actionable fraud.’
Warren Lichtenstein, left, has accused his former girlfriend Annabelle Bond, right, and her new lover Andrew Cader, of manipulating the court system in Hong Kong to win an enormous child support settlement
Mr Lichtenstein’s suit is against Mr Cader, because, as a resident of New York, he can be sued in the US federal courts. Mr Cader’s stockbroking firm, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, was purchased by Goldman Sachs for £4.8billion in 2000.
Miss Bond, who describes herself as an adventurer, was the fourth woman to climb Everest and takes part in extreme sports such as heli-skiing.
She is the fastest woman to complete the Seven Summit challenge in which mountaineers climb the highest mountains of each continent.
She achieved the feat in just 360 days and raised money for the Eve Appeal which tries to prevent ovarian cancer.
In 2006, Miss Bond was awarded an OBE for services to mountaineering and to charity. Her 71-year-old father was knighted for services to banking.
Close friends: Bethenny Frankel - seen today in New York with daughter Bryn - is good friends with billionaire Warren Lichtenstein. The tycoon has been helping her through her bitter divorce.
Mr Lichtenstein also makes allegations against Sir John, saying he and his daughter ‘conspired to and did make false statements’ that Sir John could no longer provide his monthly £1,600 payments to her.
This, he said, was in spite of the fact Sir John has an island and other homes around the world.
Mr Lichtenstein is demanding at least £120,000 in damages, the legal documents state.
Since breaking up with Miss Bond – they were engaged at one point – he has been romantically linked to US reality TV star Bethenny Frankel.
Miss Bond, Sir John and Mr Cader were not available for comment. Socialite: Annabelle Bond is the daughter of former HSBC bank chairman Sir John Bond. She is also a renowned mountaineer. She is pictured at the summit of Mount Elbrus