By Kirstin Ridley
LONDON (Reuters) - UK professional services firm Grant Thornton and two of its partners on Tuesday labelled a 2.2 billion pound ($3.45 billion) legal suit by Vincent Tchenguiz a "distortion of the truth" and said it was countersuing the property mogul for defamation.
Filing a defence to a High Court lawsuit launched in November 2014, Grant Thornton said it had complied with its legal obligations, had not intended to shape any criminal inquiry into Tchenguiz and dismissed allegations of a conspiracy in a row linked to the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing in 2008.
Tchenguiz, one of Britain's most high-profile property entrepreneurs, said: "We are very confident in our legal position."
Tchenguiz alleged last year that Grant Thornton, two of its partners, his former lender Kaupthing and an Icelandic lawyer conspired to instigate a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into him and his business activities.
The SFO investigation was dropped in 2012 after a series of blunders during which it was sharply criticised by senior judges for the way it conducted the inquiry.
Tchenguiz and his brother Robert -- one of Kaupthing's largest borrowers up to its collapse -- had both been briefly arrested in 2011. Alleging that the botched SFO investigation caused lasting damage to their reputations and businesses, they initially sued the SFO for 300 million pounds in damages.
That case was settled with a 4.5 million pound out-of-court deal last year. The brothers then blamed "external influences" for the events that led to their arrest.
The individuals named in Tchenguiz's claim were Grant Thornton partners Stephen Akers and Hossein Hamedani and Icelandic lawyer Johannes Runar Johannsson.
Grant Thornton was employed by Kaupthing in 2008 to recover funds. In 2010, it was served with a so-called Section 2 notice by the SFO, compelling it to release all information in connection with Kaupthing's debtors and related work as receiver and liquidator.
In court documents seen by Reuters, the firm categorically rejected allegations it said were baseless and defamatory.
"... the claim ... represents a distortion of the truth, is illogical and self-contradictory even on its own terms, and the facts presented, such as they are, set out no basis to support the extravagant though liberally expounded conclusions alleged, which are denied in their entirety," the defence document said.
According to the document, Akers and Hamedani allegedly suffered "serious harm to their reputation" due to an attack on their professional integrity. It also alleges Tchenguiz used the media to broadcast in "inflammatory language" news of the lawsuit well before the claim was publicly available.
Akers and Hamedani are claiming damages for libel, aggravated damages and an injunction restraining Tchenguiz and his agents from publishing further defamatory statements.
($1 = 0.6383 pounds)