The latest woman to accuse Crispin Odey of sexual harassment said he groped her and later asked her to downplay the incident to the UK markets watchdog, according to the Financial Times.
(Bloomberg) — The latest woman to accuse Crispin Odey of sexual harassment said he groped her and later asked her to downplay the incident to the UK markets watchdog, according to the Financial Times.
The woman, the 20th to come forward to the newspaper, said the financier assaulted her in Odey Asset Management’s Mayfair office one evening in 2005. After screaming at him, Odey apologized and left, she said.
She reported the incident and was given a note recording her complaint that said Odey had been under the influence of anesthetic after a dentist’s appointment. The firm also kept a record of the incident in its human resources department, the FT said, citing documents it had reviewed.
The woman, who stayed at the firm until 2014, said the financier did not sexually assault or harass her again.
“The girl concerned did work for me in 2005 and I did grab her breasts and it was reported and investigated,” Odey said in a statement to the FT. “ I had just come back from having two hours [of] canal root fillings and was under heavy medication.”
When the Financial Conduct Authority opened an investigation into Odey over potential misconduct in early 2022, Odey texted the woman saying she might be contacted and describing the FCA process as a “vendetta,” according to the FT.
Odey Asset Management, which sacked Odey from its partnership after the allegations were published, has seen its business disintegrate. The firm has shuttered some funds, rehoused other money managers and vacated its long-time London headquarters in Mayfair.
Read More: Odey Faces ‘Fit and Proper’ Test as UK’s FCA Contacts Police
Odey told the FT he had been “truly apologetic to the girl in question,” and said the fact that she stayed at the firm showed she “understood that this had been an aberration.” He added there was “no attempt to hide this incident. It was not good but very much down to the anesthetic.”
Odey and the FCA didn’t respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg regarding the new allegation. A spokesperson for Odey Asset Management declined to comment.
–With assistance from Jonathan Browning, Ben Stupples and Nishant Kumar.
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