Publishing Dominic De Sousa was a billionaire who wanted fame for his singing abilities, but he lost it at the BBC’s event where he had died.
He is now the subject of an incredible inheritance battle, as his sister alleges that his Russian bride used a forged marriage certificate to claim his identity as her widow.
He was 56 years old when Mr De Sousa passed away while singing Hey Jude during a ceremony of the BBC Good Food Awards in Dubai, December 2015. Paul Hollywood, Great British Bake Off’s presenter, watched.
James Martin, a TV celebrity chef, was so stunned by the incident that he left his Saturday Kitchen program to reevaluate his life.
Svetlana Brzeneva with a Tiger cub.
Svetlana Brzeneva, a Russian tiger wrestler, lives in Dubai and has filed a claim to the High Court of London to become his widow.
She says in documents filed in court that Mr De Sousa’s UK assets, worth £640,000, were wrongly given to his sister Maria De Sousa – and that they should instead be paid to her.
Miss De Sousa retaliated in legal documents by denying that there had been a marriage. She also claimed that the 2014 Kislovodsk wedding certificate was faked.
Born in Kenya, De Sousa moved from Kenya to London when he was a teenager. There, he studied with Jimmy White who is a famous snooker and guitarist, as well as playing guitar for a band on a cruise ship called Black Velvet.
British citizen, he spent his childhood in Merton (south London) and then found success in Dubai magazines.
He was a performer, but singing was his first love.
His mother’s funeral: Svetlana Brezhneva (front left) with Maria (right) at the funeral of Dominic De Sousa’s mother in 2010 Sousa middle of back row
As his sister accepts him, he also met Miss Brezhneva in the 1990s. She rescued large cats from the United Emirates royal zoos and managed a refuge for them.
The Russian now claims she was by Mr De Sousa’s side for much of his life after they met in 1994, that they married in 2014 and that she is due his entire estate.
Her case is rejected in documents filed by lawyers for Miss De Sousa, of Wimbledon, south London, who argue Miss Brezhneva ‘is not entitled to any part of the deceased’s estate’.
Miss De Sousa’s lawyer Arabella Adams said: ‘Miss Brezhneva and Mr De Sousa were never married and the alleged marriage certificate is a forgery.’
She also alleges that in 2016 Miss Brezhneva went to the Dubai courts with a handwritten will she claimed was Mr De Sousa’s final testament. She said that not only was her claim for his money rejected by the court but ‘at no point did she ever mention being the deceased’s wife’.
Svetlana Brzeva (58), claims she was married to Dominic De Sousa
According to the claim, Miss Brezhneva mentioned her marriage only once in June 2019, when she was suing for his money. She has appealed to Dubai’s supreme court, having been denied twice.
Miss De Sousa’s lawyers say the handwritten will is invalid because all three of the named witnesses to it said they signed after Mr De Sousa’s death. Miss Brezhneva believes that all should follow the 2006 will.
Miss De Sousa’s lawyers argue her brother died intestate, or without a will, and as next of kin she was his sole heir under British law.
Miss Brezhneva says in her claim that as Mr De Sousa’s ‘surviving spouse’ she ‘is entitled to the whole of his estate’.
She notes that in 2018 Miss De Sousa, who describes herself as chief executive and owner of her brother’s Dubai firm CPI Media, was given all he owned in Britain.
Miss Brezhneva, who works as a photographer, said last night the marriage was ‘unforgettable’ because it took place in 2014 on April 12 – which is celebrated in Russia as Cosmonautics Day
But the Russian’s UK lawyer Laura Webster claims the sister ‘is not entitled to any share of the deceased’s estate’.
Miss Brezhneva, who works as a photographer, said last night the marriage was ‘unforgettable’ because it took place in 2014 on April 12 – which is celebrated in Russia as Cosmonautics Day.
She added: ‘Dominic and I met here in Dubai – we both came with only suitcases and launched this business [the publishing firm]. Maria got everything.’
Miss De Sousa didn’t respond to our requests for comment.