12th February 2010

The high value divorce settlement between "the man from Del Monte" and his estranged wife has seen certain divorce don'ts as it works its way through the London family law courts and now, the sale of the couple's Belgravia mansion is in the spotlight.

Vivian Imerman, the former owner of Del Monte foods who sold a major stake in the tinned-fruit business for a reputed £380 million, and his spouse, Lisa Tchenguiz, have been embroiled in a bitter and not always above board legal battle over their financial settlement on divorce since 2008 when Ms Tchenguiz petitioned for divorce.

In the High Court in 2009 it was revealed that around 20,000 confidential documents had been taken from Mr Imerman's computer by Ms Tchenguiz's brother in a bid to help her win a share of her husband's wealth.

As a result, Mr Justice Moylan ordered costs of £1 million against Ms Tchenguiz, saying, "I regard the conduct which resulted in [Mr Imerman's] information being obtained irregularly and the volume of that information which was obtained as being at the extreme end of the range of behaviour which I have seen during the course of the last 30 years."

The order comes hot on the heels of other high-profile financial settlement cases such as that of Marco Pierre White whose divorce proceedings have resulted in his being granted to leave to commence civil litigation against his estranged wife and her divorce solicitors over the interception and withholding of the chef's personal papers.

Although the couple signed a

Now, as the sale of their six-storey home has come under scrutiny, it has been revealed that the property was bought in 2005, when the couple were still in a happy relationship, for £9.5 million. However, once the couple had commenced the divorce proceedings the house was reportedly sold by Mr Imerman for £33 million - adding another £23.5 million to the divorce settlement pot for the couple to argue over.