Aitken offers £1m from his ex-wife to clear libel debts

guardian.co.uk, Monday January 17 2000 02.06 GMT

Details of an offer of around £1m by the ex-wife of Jonathan Aitken in part settlement of his debts were made public last night. Lolicia Aitken is offering the payment to the bankruptcy trustees who are attempting to realise the disgraced ex-cabinet minister's assets.

Aitken has not paid a penny towards the estimated £2.4m he owes Granada TV and the Guardian for legal fees incurred in defending the libel action that resulted in his serving seven months in prison - from which he has just emerged - for perjury and perverting the course of justice. He continues to live in the house in Lord North Street, Westminster, worth more than £1.8m.

An article in today's Times details what it terms a "secret meeting" that the former Tory MP held on Friday with lawyers representing his creditors. Aitken presented written proposals to try to secure a "voluntary arrangement" to come to terms over his debts.

He offered a payment from his ex-wife Lolicia, who currently lives at various properties in Switzerland, Monaco and Paris.

The Times adds that Aitken is also planning to offer payments from the serialisation of his book of memoirs, which have been bought by a Sunday newspaper and are also being published by the Murdoch-owned HarperCollins. The serialisation is expected to fetch £60,000.

Aitken went through a divorce with Lolicia in Switzerland after he lost the libel ac tion, but it appears that she is now in a position to offer money in return for retaining possession of Lord North Street.

If the debts are not settled, the trustee in bankruptcy will be legally allowed to start possession and sale proceedings for the house in Lord North Street. Aitken, who was a millionaire, is now insolvent.

A spokesperson for the Guardian said last night: "The Guardian is examining the proposal Mr Aitken put to his creditors on Friday. The Guardian wants to help bring about a resolution to the situation but the money owing is substantial.

"We have not lost sight of the great financial cost the paper would have had to bear had Mr Aitken's high-profile and dishonest libel action succeeded."