Court Extends Dettori's Bankruptcy by a Year

Frankie Dettori's bankruptcy has been extended by 12 months with the former rider said March 5 to have not complied with orders requiring him to give full disclosure of his assets. Dettori, who retired last month, was made bankrupt in March last year and had been due to be automatically discharged March 17. However, at a hearing in the specialist insolvency court in London Thursday, an application was made by the trustees overseeing the process to extend the bankruptcy for a further year. Stefan Ramel, for the trustees, told the court Dettori "has not complied and is still not complying" with requests for information about his assets, including whether he owns properties abroad. Dettori did not appear at the hearing and was not represented. Nicholas Briggs, chief insolvency and companies court judge, ruled that the order would remain in place until March 16 next year, adding it was "not an unrealistic period" given the "blatant failure" by Dettori to provide information when asked. He said: "There is much to uncover in this bankruptcy, and it may well be that criminal sanctions will be a useful tool for the trustees." Dettori had told the bankruptcy trustees in December that he "did not" own properties abroad, but was later discovered to have "a number of properties that had not been disclosed to the trustees, in particular in France and Italy." Judge Briggs also raised "other concerns" about disclosure of assets, including a Piaget watch, a wine collection worth around £70,000, and investments worth around £365,000. Dettori entered bankruptcy last year having been involved in a "tax avoidance scheme." In a statement at the time, he said he was "saddened and embarrassed" having been put in the position by a previous financial adviser, who had since left him. In January, an update on the liquidation of his companies, Frankie Dettori Limited and Newmarket Activities Limited, showed the companies had an outstanding debt of £765,000 to HM Revenue and Customs that would not be repaid unless there were changes during the investigations.