With a private island in the Bahamas, a fleet of flash cars and offices in London, New York and Hong Kong, entrepreneur Luke Wilson would appear to be the epitome of self-made success.
Except all may not have been as it seemed at the 37-year-old’s luxury watch company.
The Mail can reveal Mr Wilson is being chased by at least 17 people who are allegedly owed more than £2.3million for bespoke timepieces which never arrived.
His business, formerly known as Luxure Global Citizen, had helped him bag an apartment overlooking the Thames and a lifestyle to rival his idol Jordan Belfort – the Wolf of Wall Street.
But creditors are chasing money paid to Mr Wilson’s company for dozens of rare watches between 2016 and 2018.
Luke Wilson is being chased by at least 17 people who are allegedly owed more than £2.3million for bespoke timepieces which never arrived
With a private island in the Bahamas, a fleet of flash cars (Two Lamborghinis pictured) and offices in London, New York and Hong Kong, entrepreneur Mr Wilson would appear to be the epitome of self-made success
His business, formerly known as Luxure Global Citizen, had helped him bag an apartment overlooking the Thames and a lifestyle to rival his idol Jordan Belfort – the Wolf of Wall Street. Pictured: beside his Rolls Royce
Action Fraud has been approached by at least one of the creditors and Mr Wilson’s company was liquidated following a compulsory winding up order at the High Court in London in January last year.
A progress report, released last month by liquidator Richard Cacho, said claims totalling £2,324,298.26 had been received from 17 creditors.
Mr Wilson states the terms and conditions of sale allowed orders to be cancelled if it became clear the watches were to be sold on.
But Mr Cacho said he interviewed Mr Wilson accompanied by a barrister and he ‘mainly gave non-committal answers’ and then cut the interview short and has since refused to be interviewed again.
To convince collectors to pay up, the former furniture maker and Harrods employee was said to have claimed he was close to Thierry Stern, head of prestigious Swiss watchmakers Patek Philippe.
Mr Wilson states the terms and conditions of sale allowed orders to be cancelled if it became clear the watches were to be sold on
On several occasions, his firm produced letters on Patek’s headed paper, allegedly signed by a director, prom- ising delivery of prestigious timepieces.
But a spokesman for the company said: ‘Patek Philippe has never had any relationship, association or affiliation with Luxure Global Citizen or Mr Wilson.’
Watch collector Stephane Valsamides paid Mr Wilson’s company £336,144 for a rare Patek Philippe 6002G 010 Grand Complication Sky-Moon Tourbillon (pictured) which was not produced
Watch collector Stephane Valsamides paid Mr Wilson’s company £336,144 for a rare Patek Philippe 6002G 010 Grand Complication Sky-Moon Tourbillon and three other watches.
They were not produced and he has not received his money back.
In 2018 Mr Wilson claimed to have purchased a nine-acre island in the Bahamas.
At one stage, he also had access to five luxury cars – two Lamborghinis, a Bentley and two Rolls-Royces.
And he has registered a British Virgin Islands-based company called Straton Oakmont Ltd named after the business established by Jordan Belfort – The Wolf of Wall Street – who was immortalised by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2013 film.
Mr Wilson’s company offices on Wall Street, in London’s Mayfair and in Hong Kong turned out to be paid-for postal addresses – or ‘virtual’ offices.
His empire was in fact operated out of his flat in Vauxhall, south London.
Mr Wilson offered at least one client a refund in a mixture of cash and a cryptocurrency he had created himself – which was refused. He said he had offered full refunds to other clients.
Mr Wilson said: ‘As a brand Patek Philippe has… 355 authorised retailers globally, some of which we had contractual commission agreements with.
‘In regards to the letters, these were provided by an authorised retailer outside the UK through one of our sales managers which was later shared with the clients in question… The £2.3million figure is total nonsense. I know what the figure is and how many people there are.’