Multi-millionaire, David Matthews, 74, was initially interrogated by French prosecutors over claims he raped a minor, which he strenuously denies. Now, a second person, a British woman, is accusing the business tycoon of rape too.
The woman, who is now thought to be in her 60s, reported David Matthews to South Yorkshire Police earlier this week. She is said to have accused him of assaulting her in Sheffield in the 1980s, when she would have been in her twenties or thirties.
Just last week, Mr Matthews was arrested at a Paris airport and held for 48 hours before he appeared in court after a woman, now aged 35, told police he raped her between 1998 and 1999, when she was 15 and he in his fifties. One of the assaults allegedly took place in Paris and the other on the Caribbean island of St Barts, where he and his wife Jane own a £5,000-a-night hotel.
Mr Matthews has vehemently denied the younger woman’s allegations, with friends suggesting he is the victim of a "revenge" plot and he is being "set up". He has, however, not commented on the latest claims made by a second woman.
David Zara, who has known the former racer and property magnate for decades, said the rape allegations were completely out of character. He said the Me Too movement has now made it "hunting season on powerful people".
He said: "David is not that sort of person. He is certainly not a rapist and certainly not a child molester."
Another friend said of the first woman’s claims: "It’s outrageous. I feel very sorry for David. He’s being completely set up just to cause family embarrassment."
Mr Matthews financer son James Matthew married Prince William's sister-in-law Pippa Middleton last year.
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