UK’s biggest bungalow builder forced to sell £10m home after ‘borrowing money from drug cartel to pay off £725m debt’
THE UK’s biggest bungalow builder who claimed to have been driven bankrupt by a drug cartel was forced to sell his £10million mansion after accruing debt totalling hundreds of millions of pounds.
When billionaire Bob Bull opened the doors to his mansion last year to commemorate ranking 88th on the UK rich list, his estimated net worth was close to £2 billion.
Mr. Bull talked about how his company, Royal Life, turned static caravan parks into bungalow villages, which is how he got his money.
Following his bankruptcy in 2016, which left him “too poor to afford a KFC,” the father of two went on to build the company and is believed to have amassed a substantial fortune that includes a variety of supercars.
But because the billionaire is allegedly in debt to the tune of £725 million, these have now been repossessed and they are listing their mansion close to Southampton, Hampshire, for sale.
Mr. Bull claimed that the Kinahan Cartel, a well-known Irish drug gang with ties to lethal South American cartels, was behind this hate campaign.
He previously told The Sun: “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 dad, who is originally from Manchester, attempted to refinance his company, which is estimated to be worth £4 billion.
The lender abruptly withdrew at the last minute, causing the £2.8billion package — the largest real estate deal in Europe — to collapse.
Mr. Bull claimed that in a desperate move, he borrowed £3 million from a wealthy who was actually a part of an organised criminal gang suspected of having ties to the Kinahan Cartel, also known as the Kinahan Organised criminal gang.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Kinahan family in recent years, and authorities likened the organisation to the mafia and Mexican cartels.
Mr. Bull was required to repay the money he borrowed in four weeks, plus interest at the rate of £3 million each month.
As a result, the dad was ordered to repay an astounding £42 million.
He went on to claim that he, his family and his staff were allegedly victims of beatings, kidnap threats and fraud.
After allegedly putting his wife to sleep, a thug took the keys to Mr. Bull’s £450,000 Rolls-Royce.
He hired a group of ex-detectives from Scotland Yard to put together a dossier about his nightmare, which he then gave to Hampshire Police.
They came to the conclusion that he was the “victim of a conspiracy to defraud him, to destroy his £4 billion business that consisted of holiday parks, caravans, and bungalows.”
The documents read: “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…”
Court documents from December revealed Mr. Bull’s intention to reach a settlement whereby he would only have to pay back 0.25 percent of his debts.
‘It is not a great return to the creditors, but it is a return,’ said Ben Channer, an attorney representing Mr. Bull.
A court declared Mr. Bull bankrupt the following month, stating he owed a staggering three-quarters of a billion pounds.
He previously told The Sun that he was furious and that he was fighting back to reverse the bankruptcy and obtain more than £1billion in finance to help the company regain its footing.
He said: “If I don’t appeal the bankruptcy, I’m finished.”
The home that Mr. Bull and his then-fiancée Sara Nilsen shared, complete with a bowling alley and a collection of 12 supercars valued at £4 million, is now on sale for more than £6 million.
The home located on Botley Road in Curdridge, Hampshire, features eight baths, six bedrooms, including a suite.
The 9.12-acre gated property, designed in the Georgian style, also includes a six-car garage.
A pool with a steam room and spa, gym, games room with a three lane bowling alley and a cinema room with seating for eight are just some of the home’s many lavish amenities.
A description of the house on 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.”