Tycoon 'not making deals on phone'
The partner of a businessman embroiled in a High Court cash fight with his estranged wife today suggested that he spent a "huge amount" of time on the telephone because he was "bored".
Noelle Reno told a judge that Scot Young was not "wheeling and dealing" but talking to "his friends".
Mr Justice Moor was told that Mr Young, 51 - who is in dispute with estranged wife Michelle Young, 49 - had been watched by private investigators who had noticed that he "spent a lot of time hanging off mobile phones".
Mrs Young estimates that Mr Young is worth ''a few billion at least'', says ''there was a vast fortune hidden'' and thinks that the mobile phone conversations suggest that he is involved in business deals.
She says she wants her fair share and would settle for £300 million plus legal expenses. She says she wants a £25 million house and wants to live in Belgravia, central London.
Mr Young disputes Mrs Young's claims and says he is penniless and bankrupt, a victim of financial meltdown and has debts which add up to £28 million.
The trial - in the Family Division of the High Court in London - began on October 31 and is expected to last several weeks.
Mr Justice Moor says he will have to decide how much Mr Young is worth.
The judge has heard that the Youngs, who both live in London and have two daughters, separated in 2006 after starting a relationship in 1989.
They have been fighting over money for several years.
A lawyer representing Mrs Young today suggested to Miss Reno - who said she was "involved in fashion and TV" and had been a "semi ambassador" for Bentley motors - that Mr Young was talking on mobiles because he was making business deals.
"Scot spends a huge amount of time on the phone, " said Miss Reno, who said she did not want to give her age or address in court.
" He's not very good at typing e-mails. He talks on the phone in an old-fashioned sort of way. He's bored."
Miss Reno, who in January told reporters that she was 29 and lived in London, added: "Scot is good at talking. That's why he has been in business. He is on the phone to some of his friends."
She went on: "I don't know what he is talking on the phone about. I don't monitor his phone calls ... He is not wheeling and dealing."
Miss Reno said she had been in a relationship with Mr Young since 2009, intended to marry him and knew him "as well as his parents".
"I know that he wants to support his daughters," she told the judge. "It kills him that he can't. And he wants to support Michelle."
But Miss Reno added: "Nobody wants to do business with Scot right now."
The lawyer representing Mrs Young asked why Mr Young "can't go and get a job in Tesco?"
Miss Reno replied: "Even Tesco probably wouldn't want to get involved."
The hearing continues tomorrow.
Mr Justice Moor said he was "going to be saying something" about costs incurred in the case.
He added: "It has concerned me, the amount of costs being run up in this case."
