David Mellor's company Wharf Land defrauded Russian millionaire Between them, Mr Balfour, Mr Maggs and Mr Shadrin, shared over £1.5m of the profit that resulted from the "turn." Mr Mellor was paid a £500,000 consultancy fee. Not only did the presiding judge, Mrs Justice Rose, find the defendants were complicit in fraudulent misrepresentation, she also called into question the evidence they presented. She called written and oral evidence presented by Mr Balfour and Mr Maggs "unsatisfactory." She went as far as to say she "could not accept as true" written evidence presented by Mr Balfour which attempted to minimise his involvement in certain aspects of the scheme. She made the same judgement on oral evidence presented by Mr Maggs. Although Mr Mellor was not a party in the case, the court found he was involved in bringing the defendants together and negotiating the sale of the property. He is a long term business partner of Mr Maggs through their jointly owned vehicle Wharf Land. A spokesman for David Mellor said: "Mr Mellor's involvement in this case is totally peripheral... His only connection was in enabling the initial purchase to succeed. Justice Rose turned down an application to immediately place a global freezing order on the assets of the defendants, including Wharf Land. However, she accepted that Mr Mellor and Mr Maggs's company Wharf Land, together with its subsidiaries, was "insolvent." The defendants were ordered to pay £1.7m in damages with a further £730,000 in costs. They said they would immediately seek leave to appeal the decision. Speaking after the case Mr Lisitsin said he welcomed the decision. He said: "I welcome the ethical and professional standard of the English judicial system. It is a reason to do business in this country.