Scorned: Mercy Ogbedo, 45, outside
London's High Court, who has been told to pay her billionaire
ex-husband's £100,000 legal costs even though he was already married
when they wed
A
woman who claims she was duped into a wedding with a billionaire who
was already married has been ordered to pay him £100,000, a court heard
yesterday.
Mercy
Ogbedo believed she married shipping magnate Moses Taiga in an
elaborate ceremony in Nigeria where her feet were washed by village
elders and a dowry was paid for her as a ‘bride price’.
The
couple had twins together, but Mrs Ogbedo then spent a decade pursuing
the tycoon for financial support through the British courts – only to be
told she would not get a penny because their wedding ceremony was
invalid.
Instead,
the 45-year-old of Finchley, North London, was ordered to pay 80 per
cent of Mr Taiga’s legal costs for a series of complex court hearings,
leaving her with an estimated £100,000 bill for lawyers’ fees.
Mrs Ogbedo went to the Court of Appeal yesterday in a bid to get the order overturned.
The court heard she had ‘limited means’ while her ‘husband’ owned a string of London properties.
The
pair ‘married’ in 2002 and had twins, but Mrs Ogbedo discovered soon
afterwards that Mr Taiga had already married a woman in Benin, West
Africa.
The
court heard that having more than one wife is allowed under Nigerian
law, but Mrs Ogbedo applied to the British courts in 2003 to have her
marriage dissolved because of her husband’s behaviour, and to force Mr
Taiga to pay maintenance for their children.
The
High Court ordered she should be given £300,000 a year – but Mr Taiga
went to the Nigerian courts and successfully argued that their wedding
was invalid, because of his church marriage in Benin.
The court ruled that Mrs Ogbedo’s was a ‘non-marriage’, which meant precisely nothing in the eyes of the law.
The
High Court then ruled it could not hand over any of Mr Taiga’s fortune
because he was never legally married to Mrs Ogbedo, and that she should
pay most of his legal costs.
Her lawyers branded that decision ‘incomprehensible’ and said she should be entitled to a payout.
New life: Mr Taiga, left, has now married a third woman, Yinka Taiga, right, with whom he has quadruplets
Barrister
Timothy Scott QC, for Mrs Ogbedo, said: ‘The wife says she was duped.
She should be permitted to apply for financial relief in England by
virtue of that marriage ceremony.’
Since
his split from Mrs Ogbedo, Mr Taiga has ended his 1974 Benin marriage
and wed another woman, Yinka, with whom he has quadruplets.
Ruling
on Mrs Ogbedo’s case, Appeal Court judge Lord Justice McFarlane said he
had ‘real sympathy’ for her position, adding: ‘All the time the wife
considered that she was married to her husband he was in fact married to
another lady.’
However,
he said he could not allow her to appeal over a divorce payout because
‘there was no marriage on which English law could bite’.
He said he would allow her to appeal against the order that she should pay Mr Taiga’s costs.
Lord
Justice McFarlane said it was arguable that the sum was unfair, adding:
‘She has the sole care of the parties’ children and is a lady of
limited means.’
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