On the Money

My exploration of motorcycle racing sponsorship complexities last month drew an almost immediate illumination of the far less reputable rump to be found in MotoGP. During May’s third week, a jury sitting at London’s Southwark Crown Court had convicted the defendant notionally before them on all seven charges with which he was accused – fraud by false representation, two counts of fraudulent trading and four of transferring criminal property – generally known as money laundering.

I say “notionally” because the dastardly villain in question wasn’t there, having jumped bail and vanished half way through his trial. He was nevertheless sentenced “in absentia” on 9 June by Judge Gregory Perrins and an international arrest warrant is now in place. If or when eventually collared, given judicial intolerance of abscondees, he’ll be doing porridge in some maximum-security hellhole for the next 14 years.

This missing miscreant was a colourful character called Anthony Constantinou (Tony to his chums), who ran highprofile foreign exchange trading enterprise Capital World Markets (CWM FX) from lavish facilities in Heron Tower on the City of London’s Bishopsgate. Its business proposition offered an unfeasibly attractive 5% monthly return on capital invested. There were plenty of unwitting takers.

Between 2013 and March 2015, CWM swallowed squillions. But no segregated investment accounts existed, or even much in the way of forex transactions. The entire operation was an utterly bent Ponzi scheme, whereby early investors were paid interest out of new deposits from subsequent suckers, to maintain the pretence a party, in what was dubbed by tabloid newspapers as the “silver bullet murder”. The killers were never caught. It later transpired they may have been working for his estranged wife Elena.

Tony, accustomed to every possible indulgence, became a spendthrift playboy and philanderer. The violent demise of dad represented only a minor childhood diversion. And crooked CWM was merely the latest wizard wheeze to fund his of prosperous cashflow. About £50m disappeared altogether, stolen or squandered.

CWM FX Rewards liveries on their bodywork. Constantinou reportedly paid £5.4m in loose change purloined from investors for the privilege, and an inevitable host of associated hospitality perks.

Moving over from a truncated Ducati contract, British MotoGP contender Cal Crutchlow joined this CWM-backed effort to ride a full factory-spec Honda. Australian rookie Jack Miller was in the line-up too, astride a cheaper and less efficacious RC213V-RS. The leathers of both were emblazoned with CWM messages. Recalling a profligate team launch event held in London by Constantinou that autumn, Crutchlow wistfully described it as “wild”.

The son of 1960s Greek Cypriot superstar fashion tycoon Aristos Constantinou, who built a considerable fortune from boutiques in Carnaby Street and founding the Ariella womenswear brand, Tony Constantinou grew up in his father’s mansion on Bishops Avenue – known as Billionaire’s Row – in the ultra-posh London suburb of Hampstead.

However, Aristos was shot dead by alleged burglars in the early hours of New Year’s Day 1985, when he returned home from extravagant lifestyle. Splashing some of its ill-gotten gains around in big-league promotional sports buy-ins created a veil of respectability and allowed him to cavort with the stars of these shows.

Thus Constantinou entered the world of MotoGP, noted for an abundance of amoral scallywags with whom he would feel comfortable. At the 2014 MotoGP season’s conclusion, a deal was brokered with leading satellite team Lucio Cecchinello Racing to become headline sponsor of its LCR Honda squad in 2015, the RC213V bikes of which would feature full

Any honeymoon ended rapidly, though. A few days before Crutchlow took seventh spot in the opening 2015 MotoGP round at Qatar held on 29 March, City of London Police raided CWM’s Heron Tower HQ, Tony was arrested and his nefarious activities suspended forthwith. Allegations of fraud and other criminal deeds followed thick and fast.

LCR Honda clung onto the Constantinou link and related signage until the Czech Grand Prix in August, then team livery abruptly changed to Castrol branding. Other sporting partnerships were terminated