The High Court has heard allegations of missing millions in a claim against a collapsed Isle of Man-based financial services group.

Two of the eight defendants in the £10m-plus case last week had the claims against them struck out.

The Wilton Group has been the subject of litigation in the UK, US and the Isle of Man relating to the collapse of its Hartley Pensions subsidiary, which has left 17,000 British pensioners in limbo.

All of the company’s Isle of Man subsidiaries are either in default, struck off or have a receiver and/or liquidator appointed over them.

Ukrainian Nadiia Bondik alleges mismanagement and misappropriation of trust assets by Wilton Group companies and is seeking damages of between £10m and £50m.

She is also seeking inquiries into the whereabouts of funds and assets held in four Isle of Man trusts created for her by Wilton’s founder Tony Flanagan.

Ms Bondik alleges breaches of contract caused her damage and loss, including the £27,429,122 she had initially invested into the trusts, of which she was beneficiary.

Her claim form states that in June 2023, Mr Flanagan wrote to her to advise: ‘It is with much regret that I have to point out that monies appear at this stage to have been lost.

‘Certainly, the anticipated profits will not materialise. There also appears to be a loss of capital at this stage.’

The court heard that just over £13m was transferred in April 2022 from one of the four trusts to GM Secured Lending Opportunities Ltd, from which, on the same day, a payment of the same amount was made to Hartley Pensions Trustees Ltd.

Ms Bondik had alleged breach of fiduciary or non-fiduciary duty, dishonest assistance and unlawful means conspiracy against Mr Flanagan, and two island-based former directors, Nicole Hewson - who was Mr Flanagan’s partner at the time - and Theunis John Bassage.

But in a decision handed down on Friday, Acting Deemster David Hodge KC upheld applications by Miss Hewson and Mr Bassage to overturn summary judgment and strike out the claims against them, ruling they had no realistic prospect of success.

He described the claims as ‘impermissably generic’ and ‘speculative’. Acting Deemster Hodge told the court: ‘Essentially the claimant is engaging in a fishing expedition.

‘I’ve every sympathy for the claimant. She appears to have lost all contact with the trust assets. It may well be that that they have been misappropriated but there is no reason to think this was due to the conduct or omissions on the part of the either the seventh or eighth defendant.’

Irishman Mr Flanagan, who has a home on Belmont Hill in Douglas, was in the public gallery for the hearing.

Acting Deemster Hodge stressed his judgment in no way affected the position of Mr Flanagan as a defendant. ‘He is not before the court as a litigant,’ he pointed out.

The other defendants in the case are island-registered Wilton Trustees (IoM) Ltd, Wilton (IoM) Ltd and Wilton Nominees (IoM) Ltd, UAE-incorporated Wilton Management Ltd, and UK-registered Servizon Ltd, an apparent subsidiary of Wilton (IoM).

Chartered accountant Miss Hewson was compliance officer and accountant for the defendant companies and had been director of Wilton Trustees, Wilton Nominees and Wilton (IoM) until she resigned from all positions in October 2025.

Miss Hewson’s advocate Lindsey Bermingham said her client had not handled or received any trust assets, and had not entered into any contractual agreement with the claimant.

Mr Bassage, who had been the group’s lead counsel, insisted there was no evidence implicating him in any wrongdoing.

His lawyer Chiva Samani said the claimant had ‘not produced a shred of evidence to support their claims’ and had been ‘happy to throw around disgraceful allegations of wrongdoing like confetti.’

But Ashley Kneale, representing Ms Bondik, said his client ‘wanted to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.’ He accused Miss Hewson and Mr Bassage of downplaying their roles and ‘attempting to cloud their actions in secrecy’.

The Wilton Group was founded in 1998 to provide tax and accountancy services and over time expanded into wealth management, corporate finance and pensions administration.