Ice cream supremo’s wives are locked in cold war over £4.75M fortune: Divorcée of Italian millionaire who died with Covid sues his Russian widow after he left entire inheritance – including his London-based business – to his second wife
- Ernesto ‘Ernie’ Colicci died in 2021 and left his inheritance to his second wife
- Now his first wife and two children are suing for his £1.6m stake in the company
The ex-wife of an Italian ice cream ‘supremo’ is suing his widow at London’s High Court over his £4.75million fortune after the multimillionaire left his entire inheritance to his second spouse.
Ernesto ‘Ernie’ Colicci died with coronavirus in 2021 aged 66, having spent nearly 40 years carving out a London-based ice cream ’empire’ alongside his first wife, Josephine Colicci.
The couple’s two children, Rob Colicci, 39, and Rosanna Colicci, 36, both played roles in the booming family enterprise, with Rob going on to marry ex-Hollyoaks actress, Scarlett Bowman.
But Ernie and Josephine divorced in 2011 and in 2014 he married his second wife, Russian-born Nora Grinberg.
Ernie had arrived in the UK from his native Italy in 1982 ‘with a dream to sell ice cream’ and over subsequent years created a business based around 35 sites across London’s parks, operating a blend of cafes, boutique restaurants and vintage ice cream trucks.
When Ernie died, his April 2017 will left his entire £4.75million fortune to Mrs Grinberg and their infant daughter, penning a letter telling his kids from his first marriage that he had given them enough money during his lifetime.
But now Mrs Colicci is facing off across a courtroom with her ex-husband’s widow – who the court heard she disparagingly referred to as his ‘Russian maid’ – arguing that his £1.6million stake in the ice cream business should rightfully go to her children, Rob and Rosanna.
Ernesto ‘Ernie’ Colicci died of Covid in 2021, aged 66, having spent nearly 40 years carving out a London-based ice cream ’empire’
Now his first wife Josephine Colicci is suing his widow over Mr Colicci’s inheritance
Mr Colicci’s widow Nora Grinberg shares a daughter with the deceased ice cream baron
Rob Colicci and Josephine Colicci arrive outside the High Court ahead of proceedings
Mrs Colicci, 59, insists that his 40 per cent stake in the family business, ECSI Ltd, was ring-fenced to be passed on to their children, Rob and Rosanna, under an agreement they drew up together in 2016.
But on his death, he in fact left his estate to Mrs Grinberg and Mrs Colicci is now suing for a judge’s declaration that Mrs Grinberg holds the shares on trust for Rob and Rosanna.
The siblings each already own a 10 per cent stake in the family company and Rob is a director, with Mrs Colicci owning the remaining 40 per cent.
Mrs Grinberg is being sued at the High Court as the executor of her husband’s estate in a clash which has already racked up around £150,000 in lawyers’ fees on the side of the Colicci family, who are suing as surviving shareholders of the company.
Penelope Reed KC – for Mrs Colicci and her kids – said the case partly turns around the effect of a 2016 legal deed hammered out between Mrs Colicci, Ernie and their two children, by which the parents ‘each covenanted to make a will’ leaving their shares in the company to Rob and Rosanna.
Mrs Colicci claims a 2016 legal deed hammered out between her, her ex-husband and their two children insured their inheritance
The family run business was taken up by Rob Colicci, 39, (far left) and Rosanna Colicci, 36 (far right)
Mrs Colicci said she had helped her husband build their empire through four decades of graft
From the witness box, Mrs Colicci told the court that, when her ex got together with Ms Grinberg, she had initially viewed her as a friend and even attended her wedding to Mr Colicci.
She still had a good relationship with Ernie, with whom she had helped build their ice cream empire through four decades of graft, adding that even after their split he ‘trusted me with everything’.
‘We went from selling ice cream out the back of a van to the business we have today through a lot of hard work,’ she told the court.
She said she and her ex agreed in 2016 that their two children would inherit their company shares when they died to safeguard their offspring’s futures and the Colicci empire.
And she also claimed Ernie and his second bride ‘almost broke up’ after he suggested that she sign a pre-nup deal before their wedding, which she refused to do.
The fallout over the suggested pre-nup tainted their wedding day, said Mrs Colicci, adding: ‘She reluctantly came to the altar, he had to go and fetch her from the room to come down’.
Mrs Grinberg’s barrister, Angela Walsh, confronted Mrs Colicci with claims that she had referred to her as her ex’s ‘Russian maid’ in one conversation, suggesting this was a ‘derogatory term for an independent professional woman’.
‘Possibly,’ replied Mrs Colicci.
Ms Walsh argued that the terms of the 2016 agreement had been ‘wiped out’ by a subsequent shareholders’ agreement struck in 2017, which ‘superseded previous agreements’ and which also distributed 10 per cent of Ernie and Josephine’s shares to Rob and Rosanna.
She accepted that his shares should stay within the Colicci family, but said that, because they are part of the estate left to Mrs Grinberg by her husband, Rob and Rosanna should pay a fair price for them.
The barrister told Judge Mark Anderson KC that Mrs Grinberg, who claims Ernie never insisted she sign a pre-nup, will face financial ‘hardship’ if she loses her late husband’s stake in the family company for nothing.
She had sacrificed a dynamic career as a chemical engineer running her own business to raise a family with Mr Colicci – with their daughter now aged six and fatherless, the court heard.
‘The financial impact on his wife and daughter has been life-changing,’ said her barrister, adding that much of the fortune Mr Colicci left to them is in danger of being swallowed up by debts and ‘liabilities’.
Following the birth of their baby, Mr Colicci had become determined to ‘provide for his new wife and child’ – feeling that he had already done his utmost to support his two children from his first marriage.
He even left behind a ‘letter of wishes’ making clear that he was writing Rob and Rosanna out of his will so that he could provide for Ms Grinberg, who gave up a lucrative business role to marry him and raise a family.
In his will, Mr Colicci had said he had provided ‘sufficient financial provision’ for his first two children
He said: ‘They are independent adults now with financial security. I consider this more than sufficient financial provision for Roberto and Rosanna.’
In his letter, he explained: ‘I love Roberto and Rosanna very much and my will is no reflection on how I feel about them.
‘I have provided both of them with significant financial funds in their lifetimes, and I have set them up with properties, rental properties, and provided them with careers.
‘They are independent adults now with financial security. I consider this more than sufficient financial provision for Roberto and Rosanna.’
Rob Colicci gave evidence, explaining that he had felt a lack of trust towards his step-mother, partly based on her refusal to sign the pre-nuptial agreement with his dad.
But he added: ‘It wasn’t really about the pre-nup, it was about my general feeling that there was a coldness about her.
‘We felt that Nora was trying to establish a hierarchy in my dad’s life and when I found out about the pre-nuptial that was another factor.
‘I think a lot of emphasis has been put on the pre-nuptial issue. It added to my thinking that I didn’t trust her, but I think it’s been inflated a bit.’
The judge is expected to deliver his ruling at a later date.
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