Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has lost his High Court battle over being held liable for the rent on a London pub he bought.
The pub deal took place when his father-in-law Christopher Hutcheson was at the helm of his business and helping him build his restaurant empire.
The chef accused Mr Hutcheson of using a ghost writer machine, more commonly used by authors to sign books and photographs automatically, to forge his signature on a document which made him the personal guarantor for the costly £640,000 annual rent of the exclusive York & Albany pub near Regent's Park.
Mr Justice Morgan, sitting in London, refused to grant a declaration that the rental guarantee was not binding because Mr Ramsay's signature "was not lawfully authorised" when the 25-year lease was signed in 2007.
The judge said: "I find that when Mr Hutcheson committed Mr Ramsay to the guarantee in the lease of the premises, Mr Hutcheson was acting within the wide general authority conferred on him by Mr Ramsay at all times until Mr Hutcheson's dismissal in October 2010."
Justice Morgan added: "Mr Ramsay may now regret the transaction in relation to the premises. He may particularly regret his involvement as a guarantor.
"He may consider that Mr Hutcheson did a bad deal. However, on any finding, he is not able to say that Mr Hutcheson exceeded his authority in any respect.
"I hold that Mr Ramsay, acting though his agent Mr Hutcheson, is bound by the guarantee in the lease of the premises."
Film director Gary Love, who owns the York & Albany, described Ramsay's allegation as an "absurd" attempt to wriggle out of his rental commitments.
The judge ordered Ramsay to make an interim payment to Mr Love of £250,000 pending final settlement of the bill.
Ramsay also faces a large bill from his own lawyers which is likely to take his total payout to more than £1m.
Mr Ramsay told the judge he felt "like a performing monkey" while Mr Hutcheson was managing his business.
His wife, Tana, said in evidence that the discovery that her father and brother were "systematically defrauding" her husband was "extremely distressing".
Mrs Ramsay, a close friend of Victoria Beckham, said she was aware of the use of the ghost writer machine but thought it was for signing merchandising when her husband was unavailable.
She added: "It did not even occur to me that the machine might be used to sign Gordon's signature on anything else."
Mr Justice Morgan dismissed as "entirely implausible" Mr Ramsay's claim that he also did not know the full extent of the use of the ghost machine.
Mr Hutcheson acted as business manager for the Ramsay group of companies until the chef sacked him and Mrs Ramsay's brother, Adam, on the grounds of "gross misconduct" in 2010.
Tana and Ramsay married in 1996 and have four children. In court Mrs Ramsay spoke about her "dominating, very clever" father.
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