A top-earning British barrister, his wife and their exotic former client, the brother of the Sultan of Brunei, went into battle in a courtroom yesterday and all three left as losers.

A London judge confirmed an order freezing the $30 million (£15 million) assets of Thomas Derbyshire and Faith Zaman, saying that there was a strong case that they had defrauded Prince Jefri.

The prince was criticised for failing to tell the full truth about his dealings with the couple, who served as his advisers before their fallout last year.

The scene is now set for a full trial in New York.

Prince Jefri said after the hearing: “I relied on Faith and Tom for legal advice throughout this period. I regret the position they have put me in, and am determined to pursue this matter.”

The dispute began when Prince Jefri accused the couple of swindling millions of dollars from him to buy two California beach homes and treats, including $30,000 of jewellery, in a day. He issued a lawsuit against them in New York.

Last month the prince persuaded a London court to freeze their funds. In the couple’s absence, his legal team claimed that there was a real risk that the two, based in Hampstead, northwest London, would squander the assets.

Judge Mackie, QC, said in the Commercial Court yesterday that Prince Jefri was claiming restitution “for alleged, and I emphasise alleged, frauds and breaches of trust by the defendants”.

The couple had been used by the prince as legal advisers from June 2004 to last November. Ms Zaman eventually became managing director of New York Palace Hotel, owned by the prince, and served as director of 30 of his companies.

The couple insisted in court that there was no risk of “dissipation” of assets. They also claimed that the prince had failed in his duties to tell the full story to the English courts and so the order obtained in their absence should be lifted.

The judge said that there were “serious material nondisclosures” by Prince Jefri in failing to disclose his interest in Argent International, a company that received payments from New York Palace Hotel. This failure to tell the full story would result usually in a freezing order being set aside, the judge said, but he was making an exception by confirming the interim injunction. “There are,” the judge said, “in my view, wholly exceptional facts.”

Property described in Prince Jefri’s claim against the two barristers may belong to the Brunei Investment Agency, “a wholly innocent party having assets for the people of Brunei”.

“If I discharge the order, not only might the defendants receive an undeserved windfall but the Brunei Investment Agency might suffer undeserved loss.”

The judge added: “The case against the defendants seems a relatively strong one,” although it was for a US court to decide.

Cash dispute

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