UK hedge fund manager Odey charged with assaulting a woman

LONDON (Reuters) - Crispin Odey, one of Britain's highest-profile hedge fund managers and political donors, has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman, prosecutors said on Friday.

Odey has been charged with indecently assaulting a woman over the age of 16 in relation to an incident in 1998, a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said.

"The allegation is denied and I will strongly contest this matter," Odey said in an email sent to Reuters by a representative.

London's Metropolitan Police said the incident took place at an address in Swan Walk in the capital's upmarket Chelsea district, the Thames riverside street where Odey has a home. He was charged on May 14.

Odey, 61 and founder of Odey Asset Management, is due to appear in court on Sept. 28.

A prominent figure in the financial sector, Odey donated more than 870,000 pounds to the successful campaign to leave the European Union.

Odey made headlines when he spent about 150,000 pounds on a Palladian-style stone temple to shelter chickens at his Gloucestershire mansion.

(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous matter from paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Huw Jones, Estelle Shirbon and Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Rachel Armstrong, Kevin Liffey and Giles Elgood)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Morning Bid: Who will police the bond vigilantes?
• US and Iran exchange attacks as lull in war appears over
• Police probe deadly shooting in Tucson outside a gay bar as hate crime