Sir Frederick Barclay's Nephew 'Caught with Bugging Device' at Ritz Hotel

The footage is at the centre of a bitter legal row between the families of the billionaire Barclay twins.

Sir Frederick, 85, and his daughter Amanda are suing three of Sir David Barclay's sons for invasion of privacy.

They claim the surveillance gave the men commercial advantage and they sold the Ritz for half its market value.

The Barclay brothers' businesses include the Telegraph Media Group, the online retailer Very Group, the delivery business Yodel, and - at the time of the bugging - the Ritz hotel in London.

Sir Frederick, the elder twin by 10 minutes, and his daughter Amanda are suing Sir David Barclay's sons - Alistair, Aidan and Howard, Aidan's son Andrew, and Philip Peters, a board director of the Barclay group for invasion of privacy, breach of confidence and data protection laws.

The claim stems from a falling out between the children of the famously private twins...


The CCTV footage allegedly shows Alistair Barclay handling a bugging device at the Ritz hotel on 13 January this year. The recording shows Mr Barclay inserting a plug adaptor, which is claimed to contain a listening device, into a socket.

In court documents lodged by Sir Frederick and Amanda Barclay, it is claimed the bug - which was placed in the hotel's conservatory where Sir Frederick liked to conduct business meetings and smoke cigars - captured more than 1,000 separate conversations amounting to some 94 hours of recordings.

The pair claim the recordings amount to "commercial espionage on a vast scale"....

Voice Activated Wireless GSM Spy Bug SIM Mains 2 Way Adapter Plug Doubler Surveillance Adaptor

Second bug

It is also claimed a separate Wi-Fi bug was supplied by private investigation firm Quest Global. Its chairman is former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens.

The claimants' documents say that Quest invoiced for 405 hours of listening and transcribing.

The recordings, it is alleged, captured "private, confidential, personal and Sir Frederick's privileged conversations with his lawyers, and with his daughter's trustees, bankers and businesspeople".  more

Oddly, there is no mention of the video bug which recorded the incident. It does however make the nephew eligible for our Darwin Award for capturing himself with his own bug. ~Kevin

Spycam Story #489 - The Commish

PA - A former Cumberland County Commissioner has been charged in connection with the use of hidden surveillance throughout his home to videotape sexual encounters with young men, Attorney General Tom Corbett said.

Bruce Barclay, 49, of Mechanicsburg, served as a Cumberland County Commissioner from January 2004 to April 2008. (more) (video)

1/14/09 - UPDATE - A Brecknock Township man pleaded guilty Tuesday to falsely accusing a former Cumberland County commissioner of raping him.

William M. McCurdy, 21, of the 1100 block of Alleghenyville Road entered his plea to making false reports and unsworn falsification in Cumberland County Court.

McCurdy is free on bail pending sentencing in March by Judge Edward E. Guido. The charges carry penalties of up to three years in prison...

State police investigating the accusation uncovered hidden video-recording equipment in Barclay's home. Investigators said Barclay hired male prostitutes on a weekly basis and used the hidden cameras to secretly record more than 100 sexual encounters inside his house.

The videotapes refuted McCurdy's rape accusation, investigators said, but led to Barclay's arrest on charges of wiretapping and related offenses. (more)

Frederick Barclay’s Nephews Thought Bugging Ritz was ‘Necessary and Reasonable’

Sir Frederick Barclay’s nephews bugged the conservatory of the Ritz hotel after becoming “seriously concerned” about the billionaire property magnate “posing a significant risk of harm” to the family business, according to documents lodged with the High Court.


The 85-year-old businessman is involved in a bitter High Court battle with three of his twin brother Sir David’s sons over 94 hours of secret recordings made over a number of months as part of what his lawyers have described as “commercial espionage on a vast scale”.

Sir Frederick and his daughter Amanda are suing Alistair, Aidan and Howard Barclay, Aidan’s son Andrew, and Philip Peters – a director of a number of companies in the Barclay Group – after the “elaborate system of covert recording” was discovered in January.

Last month, Sir Frederick released footage appearing to show his nephew Alistair handling a listening device which is said to have been used to capture more than 1,000 separate conversations. more

SpyCam Story #520 - The Commish goes to Court

PA - A former central Pennsylvania officeholder will face trial on charges he secretly videotaped men having sex in his home. Prosecutors say ex-Cumberland County Commissioner Bruce Barclay used hidden cameras to make 176 recordings of 13 different men... Barclay is also charged with unlawfully using a computer and wiretapping. (more) (background)

Secret Recordings & a High Stakes Divorce

UK - A judge is overseeing a private divorce court hearing featuring a member of one of Britain's most famous business families and his estranged wife.

Sir Frederick Barclay, 86, and Lady Hiroko Barclay, 78, are both expected to give evidence at the virtual trial in the Family Division of the High Court...

The nephews - all sons of his twin brother David - allegedly made over 94 hours of secret recordings as part of what his lawyers have described as 'commercial espionage on a vast scale'. more | Some of the bugging video.

Lawmaker Lunacy Comes Off Half Cox'ed

The son-in-law of the late President Richard Nixon gave a lesson during a visit to Syracuse Wednesday on the difference between Watergate and the New York Republican Party's recent bugging scandal. One tactic was legal. The other was not, said Ed Cox, the chairman of the New York State Republican Party and the husband of former first daughter Tricia Nixon...

It was exposed recently that Assembly Republicans, led by Oswego County's Assemblyman Will Barclay, had a private investigator put a GPS tracking device on a car driven by Assemblyman Edward Hennessey, D-Suffolk County to track his whereabouts.

They admitted to it in court...
Cox, who was in Syracuse Wednesday, said the two investigations are not the same.
First of all, Assembly Republicans admitted to bugging the car. 

Secondly, it was legal, he said (although he admits he doesn't know any more about the law than what he's been told by a reporter.)

He talked about bugging the car as if it was the Republican Party's responsibility. He said it is part of the "self-policing, democratic process" for one party to investigate the other party's candidate before the election.

"Watergate was using illegal means - breaking and entering and illegal bugging - in order to find out what was legal political conversation. It's just the opposite," he said.

Cox said politics in New York is a competitive sport. "It ain't bean bag," he said...

What would he say if someone bugged his car?

Under the same circumstances, he said, "Sure that would be fine with me." (more)