22.02.2010
World Cup hero Hurst taken in by property scheme
England's 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst admitted Monday he had pumped a fortune into a Spanish property scheme without studying the plans first.
Hurst, 68, told the High Court in London he regretted allowing his name to "to be used and abused" in promotional material for the scheme for seven off-plan apartments near Marbella.
The former West Ham striker has joined forces with six other investors to sue businessman Mark Cordner for a total of two million pounds.
Hurst, who scored a hat-trick in England's 4-2 win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, claims he has personally lost 600,000 pounds.
The seven investors claim that through his alleged deceit and misstatement, Cordner persuaded them to hand over the full purchase price for the apartments in a development called Aloha Royal.
Hurst and his six co-investors say their rights over the properties have now either been destroyed or rendered worthless.
He told the court: "I feel some remorse at becoming involved and allowing my name to be used and abused in the way it has been.
"Most of the people I have been associated with have been very forgiving of my role."
Cordner admits he made some of the representations alleged by the seven, but denies they were made deceitfully or negligently and says that he too was the victim of another developer, Michael Hone, in whom he had invested.
But lawyers for the seven complainants said Cordner was working in partnership with Hone.
Hurst told the court he was "taken in completely" by Hone and Cordner.
"It is easy to say in hindsight, but if I'd seen the documents, we wouldn't have gone anywhere near this," he admitted.
Hurst said he did virtually no research and took no legal advice, as Cordner had promised that his in-house lawyer would deal with the legal paperwork.
He said he first met Hone and Cordner in June 2003, and was offered an apartment as part of a three-year image rights contract to promote the properties through 15 personal appearances and media endorsements.
The hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.
Source: © 2010 AFP - Geoff Caddick
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