Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley faces paying over £3m to a Greek shipping magnate after a High Court legal battle over a bankruptcy petition – with businesswoman’s bid to throw out the case dismissed

Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley has been ordered to pay a Greek shipping tycoon £3.4million after a high court battle.

If Staveley does not pay former Manchester City director Victor Restis the sum before April 22, he can issue a bankruptcy petition. His legal team say he will pursue this action if the debt is not cleared.

Individuals who are declared bankrupt or file for bankruptcy are disqualified from acting as a director or owner of a football club. However, Staveley, who has a six per cent share in Newcastle, intends to appeal the judgement.

Restis issued the statutory demand for £36.8m in May of last year after he made a £10m investment in Staveley’s business ventures in 2008. 

She had paid back just over £6m of the original sum and Restis’ subsequent claim included interest of £31.3m, which was later dropped.

Shipping magnate Victor Restis (pictured) issued Staveley with a bankruptcy petition

Staveley had applied to the London High Court to throw out the claim, but a ruling on Monday – made by Judge Daniel Schaffer – found her liable to pay the outstanding £3.4m.

Ted Loveday, representing Staveley, had argued that his client felt ‘intimidated’ into signing documents in 2021 that made her personally liable – rather than her company, PCP Capital Partners – and these were obtained ‘by duress, undue influence and/or misrepresentation’.

Court filings revealed Staveley said she was concerned for her safety after being warned that Restis was ‘dangerous’ and ‘not a man to be messed with’. 

Staveley holds a 10 per cent stake in Newcastle after playing a key role in the takeover in 2021

The businesswoman had applied to the High Court to throw out Restis’ application

In 2013, he was arrested on charges of money laundering and embezzlement and spent four months in an Athens prison before being cleared. Her lawyers also cited alleged links to Iran.

However, the judge said her liability was ‘proved conclusively’ in the documents, adding that it ‘beggars belief’ she did not understand she was liable and that the claim ‘ventured into the realm of fantasy and is completely implausible’. 

He also rejected the notion that Restis had exploited Staveley’s Huntington’s disease, a degenerative genetic disorder, but the judge did say he had ‘sympathies’ for her in ‘an unfortunate case’.

A spokesperson for Staveley said: ‘Ms Staveley notes and welcomes that the ruling made a £33million reduction in the claim to principal only with no interest. Nevertheless, Ms Staveley continues to dispute personal liability and intends to lodge an appeal.’