Developer jailed for 6 months for contempt

A British developer whose estranged wife says is hiding millions of dollars in assets was jailed for six months Wednesday for contempt. Scot Young, 51, was handcuffed and led out of court with a Louis Vuitton overnight bag, The Guardian reported. Mr. Justice Philip Moor found he was in "flagrant and deliberate contempt" for refusing to give his wife, Michelle, 48, a financial accounting. Young was ordered to pay 27,500 pounds ($44,000) for the monthly support of his wife and children after they separated four years ago. The judge said he now owes almost 1 million pounds ($1.6 million). "The husband says he is penniless and bankrupt," Moor said. "The wife, on the other hand, contends that he is a very wealthy man worth up to 400 million pounds ($640 million). She says he has hidden his entire resources to avoid his legitimate obligations towards her and the children." Michelle Young's attorney said Young, while pleading poverty, was living a champagne lifestyle. "He is going from party to party with champagne glass in his hand and his current girlfriend, some supermodel or other, on his arm," Edward Fitzgerald said. Young, who complained of surveillance by detectives hired by his wife, called his jailing "a sad day for British justice."