Dunhill Heir's Associate Under Investigation in £12 Billion Fraud Probe

French authorities have launched an investigation into Vanja Megevand, a woman whom Piers Dunhill has referred to as his fiancée, concerning the alleged disappearance of £12 billion. Megevand is identified as a person of interest in a probe into what prosecutors describe as an organized fraud.

This investigation marks the latest in a series of entanglements for Dunhill, 32, with entrepreneurs who have later faced scrutiny. In the past two years, Dunhill has been associated with two individuals whose business dealings have come under fire.

Last year, Dunhill was photographed with jeweler Vashi Dominguez just months before Dominguez's company faced a winding-up order. Investors, including Phones 4u billionaire John Caudwell, reportedly lost £170 million in that instance.

Earlier in 2024, Dunhill attended investor roadshows alongside Renato Brioni, formerly known as Renato Libric. Libric had previously received a three-year prison sentence in the U.S. in 2018 for wire fraud and was ordered to pay over $1.5 million in compensation to defrauded parties.

The current investigation involves allegations of a fraud on a significantly larger scale. French prosecutors are pursuing probes against three Swiss lawyers on preliminary charges of perpetrating an organized fraud. One of these lawyers is Vanja Megevand.

Social media posts indicate that Megevand was thanked for contributing to a week of festivities hosted by Dunhill's firm, Dunhill Ventures, in the Hamptons, USA, in 2024. Megevand also posted a thank you to Dunhill following a financial networking event in London. According to reports, their professional relationship developed into a romantic one, with Dunhill referring to Megevand as his fiancée.

Dunhill has declined to comment on the matter. A lawyer representing Megevand stated that she "strongly rejects the allegations."