The invitation was for dinner and dancing, at a mansion on St George’s Hill, a gated estate in Surrey that has become an enclave for wealthy Russians. The Chelsea Football Club director Eugene Tenenbaum was celebrating his 45th birthday, in “disco attire”. On the flyer emailed to guests, an old photo showed a small boy standing barefoot, in front of what appears to be a pile of hay. The caption underneath read: “You’ve come a long way baby!”
Tenenbaum had plenty to celebrate – as a close associate of Roman Abramovich, he helped manage an empire that ranged from the oilfields of Siberia to the Premier League in England – and he wanted to thank those who had helped along that journey. Among the guests on that September night in 2009 was Demetris Ioannides. He had flown in from Cyprus, staying at Surrey’s four-star Oatlands Park hotel.
