Mr McGhee said Mr Woodward-Fisher had known about moths in the house before he decided to sell up, but in pre-contract enquiries with solicitors said he was unaware of any "vermin infestation" or "defects" in the house that weren't visible.
In their claim, Dr Hunyak and his wife asked the judge to reverse the house sale on the basis of alleged “fraudulent misrepresentation” so that they get their £32.5m purchase money back, plus compensation for other losses.Mr Woodward-Fisher denied all claims, insisting that he gave honest and full replies on the pre-sale enquiries form, and that as far as he knew any previous moth problems had been eliminated by the time of the move.
His KC, Jonathan Seitler, insisted Mr Woodward-Fisher had been honest when dealing with the enquiry about possible previous “vermin infestation,” having told his solicitor they had experienced problems with moths, only to be assured that “moths were not vermin and therefore not relevant to this enquiry”.
They said Mr Woodward-Fisher, 68, a high-end property developer and former champion rower, had failed to disclose previous moth issues when answering pre-sale enquiries about the possibility of “vermin” and hidden defects in the house.
High-end property developer William Woodward-Fisher had given "false" answers about the state of the property and failed "honestly to disclose" the "serious infestation" of moths, a High Court judge has found.
