A story that should become a movie or a Netflix series. And one that involves one of the most valuable assets in recent years: gold .
English courts have concluded that several gold coin dealers from the specialist firm Hattons of London orchestrated a "dishonest and reprehensible" plan, according to the ruling, to obtain a confidential customer database with the aim of creating a competing company.
On Friday, June 19, the High Court in London ruled that the group had devised a plan to obtain detailed information about coin collectors and that several of its members had fabricated grievances, including allegations of harassment, before leaving the company.
The case arises in a context of an expanding market for gold coins, driven by an annual increase in the price of the metal. The exemptions from capital gains tax on Britannia and Sovereign gold coins, the two most popular models in London, increase their attractiveness to investors in the United Kingdom .
Hattons of London specializes in rare and exclusive pieces and is one of several stores that have experienced strong growth in recent years in the country. Founded in 2017, it is a company in which some employees have a shareholding. The controlling shareholder is businessman Simon Mellinger.
On the company's website, there are items that cost £3,900 (R$ 26,600), such as a set of coins that pays homage to Queen Elizabeth II , who died in September 2022. She would have turned one hundred in 2026.
One of the defendants in the lawsuit, Benjamin Bradshaw, left Hattons in 2022 and subsequently founded a competing company, Knightsbridge Collection, according to the Financial Times .
Others left the company in a wave of layoffs in 2025 to join Knightsbridge, according to the ruling issued on Friday, the 19th.
Bruce Carr KC, the substitute judge of the Superior Court, found that Bradshaw's former colleagues secretly extracted customer data, including purchase and payment histories, as well as contact information.
According to the ruling, Carr stated that Hattons had invested considerable time in building this database, which includes records of personal information that salespeople could use to build a good relationship with these customers.
According to the court decision, several members of this criminal group "orchestrated a complaint process with the aim of creating an equally fabricated exit strategy." These complaints included allegations of bullying, inappropriate jokes, and yelling.
“I am completely convinced that all the defendants in this case behaved in a dishonest and reprehensible manner,” Carr ruled in his decision. “The evidence against them is, in short, overwhelming.” The defendants deny the charges.
According to the court ruling, Knightsbridge Collection was placed into voluntary liquidation by creditors and ceased operations last August.
Carr obtained an injunction preventing the defendants from using the data. Any damages will be determined later.
Simon Mellinger, managing director of Hattons of London, stated in a press release that the company has reviewed its policies and has also contacted affected customers to offer compensation.
“We will continue to seek substantial damages from the defendants, as well as reimbursement for the costs we have incurred due to the defendants’ illegal actions,” he stated. The defendants were not represented by lawyers.
