British Indian couple’s 23-year divorce battle: Husband hid £28 million in wealth, ex-wife won £6.6 million World News

The 23-year divorce dispute between an Indian couple in the UK has finally come to an end with a court awarding Varsha Gohil £6.6 million, after years of litigation over a hidden fortune of £28 million.The dispute began in 2002 when Varsha Gohil filed for divorce from her husband, Bhadresh Gohil, citing adultery and irrational behavior. At the time, she accepted financial compensation worth £270,000 and the family’s Peugeot car, The Sun reported.Varsha later became convinced that her ex-husband had not fully disclosed his wealth during divorce proceedings. Under UK law, when deciding on a financial settlement, both parties must provide a full account of their assets and income.In 2007, after gathering evidence that she believed Badresh had concealed some of his fortune, she returned to court seeking to overturn the original agreement.The case took a dramatic turn in 2011 when Badresh was found guilty of money laundering and forgery. The former lawyer was sentenced to 10 years in prison while the Crown Prosecution Service froze assets worth around £28 million, which investigators said were hidden around the world.The legal battle then turned to a dispute over whether the assets should be considered part of the couple’s marital wealth.Varsha’s challenge eventually went to Britain’s Supreme Court. There, a judge joined her case with that of Alison Sharan, who made similar claims that her ex-husband concealed assets during divorce proceedings. The ruling allows the two women to reopen financial settlements and pursue new claims.Despite the victory, the financial dispute remained unresolved for years. Difficulties faced by the Crown Prosecution Service in tracing and recovering assets mean no new High Court hearings will be held until 2023.At that hearing, Badresh argued that the frozen property was not his and therefore could not be included in any divorce award. Varsha insisted that the wealth was accumulated during their marriage and that this should be taken into account when dividing the couple’s assets.The Crown Prosecution Service argued the money represented the proceeds of crime and should continue to be subject to criminal recovery proceedings rather than being distributed through the Family Court.However, Judge Williams ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove that the entire £28 million came from criminal activity. He found that some of the assets came from legitimate businesses that existed during the marriage and therefore formed part of the couple’s wealth.The judge awarded Varsha £6.6m and made a scathing assessment of her ex-husband, describing him as “pervasively dishonest”.Judge Williams said in his ruling that Badresh’s portrayal of himself as a hard-working family man who was treated unfairly was “so far from the truth that it is difficult to understand how he could make this point”.The verdict ends one of Britain’s longest-running divorce disputes, capping a legal battle that lasted more than two decades.