Mr Young was released on bail last week after being jailed in January for apparent contempt of court.
After an extended divorce trial last year, Mr Young was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for failing to disclose the whereabouts of his supposed £400 million fortune, in what was described at the time by Mr Justice Moor as a “flagrant and deliberate” contempt of court.
Mr Young’s estranged wife Michelle, who has pursued her husband’s wealth since the couple’s separation in 2006, claimed to have found documents which proved a widespread conspiracy to hide the property man’s wealth in offshore accounts and companies.
Mrs Young claims that the tycoon continued to lead a lavish lifestyle despite owing at least £1 million to her and their daughters – Scarlet, 20, and Sasha, 18 – in maintenance and £1.28 million in unpaid tax.
She had previously obtained a High Court order in 2007, which forbade her husband to sell or move any disputed assets, but maintains that his former business partners helped him to hide £400 million in foreign institutions.
Mr Young stated that he was left utterly penniless after pursuing “disastrous” property deals, and was declared bankrupt in 2010.
He had joined forces with Russian businessman Ruslan Formichev, formerly a business partner of oligarch Boris Berezovsky, in order to fund a £65 redevelopment deal which aimed to renovate a former paint-factory site in Moscow into shops and offices.
Formichev reportedly sold him a half share in a Cyprus firm, called Parasol Participations Ltd, which controlled the proposed speculation.
A so-called “secret deal” involved 12 obscure companies and trusts in Cyprus, Russia, The British Virgin Islands and Liechtenstein.
However, the undertaking – dubbed “Project Moscow” – fell through, leading to Mr Young losing his £400 million fortune and acquiring debts of £28 million, according to the developer.
The Daily Record has previously reported that an investigation carried out by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Guardian newspaper discovered that Mr Young was among a number of wealthy individuals who had stashed up to £21 trillion in offshore accounts, in a bid to beat tax laws and bankruptcy orders around the world.
The 15-month investigation, which involved 86 journalists from 46 countries, examined over 30 years’ worth of internal memos, emails, databases and accounting ledgers.
Speaking about her husband’s release, Mrs Young said:
“He’s still in contempt of court. How can the justice system let him take one step out of prison without him disclosing where the £400million is? Not only is this case a personal injustice to my daughters and me, it is also a social injustice as the taxpayer has lost out on potentially hundreds of millions of pounds.”
She added:
“Once the full facts of this case can be published, the establishment will be shaken to its very core. I am happy to pay my taxes and help regenerate Britain’s economy, which has been brought to its knees by secretive offshore corporate vehicles.”
