Top Ten Bits
- Dual Role: Christen Ager-Hanssen operates as a low-level advisor in divorce cases, targeting individuals in private members clubs in London's West End under the guise of being a wealthy Norwegian.
- Deceptive Claims: In interviews, Ager-Hanssen postures as a private investigator specializing in conflict resolution for wealthy clients, branding himself as a "one-man army."
- Betrayal of Clients: Ager-Hanssen is portrayed as duplicitous, offering to help weaker parties in divorce cases only to betray them for financial gain from the opposing side.
- Legal Manipulation: He convinces clients to dismiss their legal teams and instead trust his arrangements, often utilizing Zafar Ali KC, known for his involvement in controversial legal acts, to represent them.
- Courtroom Strategy: Ager-Hanssen advises clients to misrepresent themselves in court, such as pleading poverty and feigning confusion, to manipulate legal outcomes.
- Breach of Trust: His methods include approaching the opponent in a case to turn the situation to his favor, often resulting in detrimental outcomes for his original client.
- Legal Consequences for Clients: Clients following Ager-Hanssen's advice, like Martin Wennberg, have faced severe legal repercussions, including imprisonment for not complying with court orders.
- Financial Incentives: Ager-Hanssen reportedly receives bonuses for successfully undermining his client’s cases to benefit the wealthier opposing party.
- High-Profile Cases: His clientele includes individuals involved in high stakes disputes, such as Zhanna Shamalova in her legal battle against Kirill Shamalov, linked to Russian political elites.
- Potential Legal Violations: Ager-Hanssen’s activities potentially border on criminal, especially if he interacts with sanctioned individuals without proper authorization, risking legal action against himself.
Summary
In the opulent shadows of London's posh private members clubs in the West End, Christen Ager-Hanssen, once a high-flying executive at the cryptocurrency firm nChain, is now casting himself in a far murkier role. As our investigation reveals, Ager-Hanssen has adaptively morphed into a self-styled sage of divorce strategy, targeting wealthy estranged spouses with promises of David-versus-Goliath victories. Yet the reality, gleaned from our sources, points to a playbook of deception and greed.
Following his contentious departure from nChain, marked by a notably lenient Norwegian media interview, Ager-Hanssen portrayed himself as a rugged solo operative in the high-stakes world of private investigations. He appeals to the mega-rich, the "eccentric billionaires," with a veneer of expertise in resolving elite disputes. However, our investigation suggests that his actual maneuvers could be described less as strategic mastery and more as opportunistic predation.
Operating under the façade of aiding the underdog in complex divorce battles, Ager-Hanssen's method involves ingratiating himself with one spouse—often at their most vulnerable post-separation moments. These encounters, typically initiated under the chandeliers of Mayfair's exclusive haunts, often conclude with Ager-Hanssen persuading these individuals to dismiss their legal teams in favor of his opaque services. His recruit of choice for legal representation is Zafar Ali KC, a criminal barrister with a checkered resume, including involvement in Craig Wright’s notorious mock trial.
Our sources disclose a disturbing pattern: once retained, Ager-Hanssen reportedly approaches the opposing spouse with a lucrative but ethically dubious offer—to neutralize the client's legal challenge in exchange for a handsome fee. The strategy involves advising his original client to feign poverty and ignorance in court, thus undermining their case—a tactic he himself reportedly stumbled through during his personal legal scuffles.
This charade has real-world consequences. Take, for instance, the case of Martin Wennberg, a former Ager-Hanssen client whose legal entanglements ended disastrously. Coached by Ager-Hanssen, Wennberg's courtroom performance, marked by claims of stress and confusion, did little to convince Mr Justice Peel. The result was a four-week jail sentence for contempt of court, after it was revealed Wennberg possessed substantial hidden assets.
Adding an international flair to Ager-Hanssen’s dossier is the case involving Zhanna Shamalova, who found herself embroiled in a legal nightmare with Kirill Shamalov, a figure linked directly to Russian political elites. Shamalova’s engagement of Ager-Hanssen, given his past perfidious antics and Shamalov's sanctioned status, raises alarms about potential criminal breaches involving the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).
Christen Ager-Hanssen’s activities raise profound questions about the intersections of wealth, influence, and legality. As more light is shed on his dealings, those entangled in his strategies are left counting costs that extend far beyond their hefty legal fees.