Crispin Odey was in “pure rage” after an executive at his now-defunct hedge fund warned him about his threats to close the firm, a London court has been told.

Oliver Kelton said Odey, 67, was “changing colour” and was “incredibly volatile” at a meeting at Odey’s home in February 2022.

In a written witness statement disclosed on Monday as part of a legal battle in the Upper Tribunal between Odey and the Financial Conduct Authority, Kelton recalled he “felt physically threatened” during the meeting “and I remember thinking: ‘At least if you hit me, I know where Belgravia police station is’”.

At the time, Kelton was on the governing executive committee of Odey Asset Management, in which Odey was the majority shareholder. There were tensions between Odey and the committee over a disciplinary process by the committee into an allegation about Odey’s behaviour towards a female staff member. 

Odey had allegedly been saying he would shut the business and Kelton said he went to his home and told him “if he carried on threatening to close the firm, I would have to … suspend subscriptions to protect clients from coming into the funds”. 

Kelton said Odey “exhibited pure rage, after I had raised the point around there being other stakeholders to consider, specifically employees”.

“He grabbed the table and screamed, ‘How dare you speak to me like this?’ I have never seen rage like it, the table was shaking.”

Odey, who was once a top hedge fund manager, has taken the FCA to the tribunal in an attempt to overturn the regulator’s plan to ban him from the finance industry and fine him £1.8 million.

The FCA alleges Odey acted with a “lack of integrity” between December 2021 and November 2022, when it is claimed Odey tried to frustrate disciplinary action by his firm by twice ousting its executive committee. 

Odey denies this and claims he was acting in the best interest of the business because he believed the internal disciplinary process he faced was unfair and might result in his dismissal. The firm imploded in 2023 when Odey faced several allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied.

The committee handed Odey a final written warning in February 2021 after an internal investigation uncovered at least 46 historical allegations of inappropriate conduct by him towards female staff. 

Another allegation about Odey in October 2021 prompted the committee to start a fresh disciplinary process, which stalled when Odey ousted the committee on Christmas Eve. Kelton, a fund manager, and Tom Richards, who was the firm’s chief operating officer, were then appointed to the committee by Odey in January 2022, and in either late February or March the pair learnt of a new allegation about Odey’s behaviour. 

This prompted Kelton and Richards to consider safeguarding measures, including a proposal that Odey be separated from staff by working in the basement of the firm’s offices, which he objected to. He removed Kelton and Richards from the committee at the end of March 2022.

The case continues.