Edward Davenport back in business as ‘Wolf of the West End’

IF YOU want to know what really goes on behind closed doors in the aristocratic party scene, the man dubbed ‘Wolf of the West End’ is the man to ask.

Edward Davenport is a UK party baron who has served prison time for fraud. Picture: Vice.

FROM Lords wearing bras to German-themed orgies — no-one does sex scandals quite like the Brits.

The nation with the reputation for reserve is outrageously raunchy behind the scenes, according to Edward Davenport, a self-styled Lord and convicted fraudster who has seen more debauched parties than you’ve had hot dinners.

“London has always traditionally had a certain amount of naughtiness to it behind the scenes,” the 49-year-old once dubbed the ‘tycoon of teen lust’ told news.com.au.

Dressed entirely in black and reclining into a plush couch in his Mayfair home-cum-venue-cum-office, he said the number one rule for partying with elites is: keep it discreet.

“In England, we keep it very private. But behind closed doors, all sorts of things go on.

“Maybe it was the boarding schools we went to. It’s an inner circle and it’s a private thing ... These days it’s the internet and everyone knows what’s happening, but it’s not like anyone can come.”

The one-time party magnate is looking to rebuild his career after a prison sentence for fraud and a kidney transplant that changed his outlook on life. He was recently the subject of a Vice documentary and has gained a mysterious and wealthy Chinese backer to bankroll his proposed expansion into Asia and “whatever takes our fancy.”

“The health scare makes me want to live more, live larger, if that’s possible because I lived quite large before,” said the man once aptly described as “draculine” in his appearance.

“I’m going to get out and organise lots of swingers parties … and Australia is definitely on my list of places to go!”

‘TYCOON OF TEEN LUST’

The London-born party animal dubbed “Fast Eddie” grew up in the country’s wealthy and connected party scene and made a name for himself organising the Gatecrasher balls attended by thousands of young elite to get smashed at country estates during the 1980s.

Later, he took up residence at 33 Portland Place, a 110-room mansion in central London he controversially obtained from Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner while the country was embroiled in a civil war, and transformed it into a venue for film shoots, launches, events and elite sex parties.

But his world came crashing down in 2011 when he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison over his role in Gresham Ltd (not to be

confused with legitimate financial business Gresham Financial Ltd) — a sham that defrauded companies of more than $8 million by promising them loans that never materialised, between 2006 and 2009.

Edward Davenport during a typical day in the office. Picture: Vice.

At the time, Serious Fraud Office director Richard Alderman called it a “sophisticated criminal enterprise”. The judge presiding over the case said he had no doubts Davenport deserved his description as “ringmaster” despite not leaving “footprints in the snow”.

One of the victims told Vice the trappings of prestige presented by Davenport and others lured him into the scam that left him emotionally and financially ruined.

“Why didn’t I see it? The reason I didn’t see it was they were good. They were brilliant. They were professional fraudsters” he said. “They take you to places that you don’t know and they leave you there and they leave you totally exposed.”

But one year on from his early release on medical grounds, Davenport remains unbowed by the findings against him.

“I don’t have a very good opinion of the judge in my case because he wasn’t a businessman,” he said. “He’d never really run a business.

“If he didn’t understand something he would just go against me so it was a kind of ludicrous situation.”

The building at 33 Portland Place was used to film ‘The King's speech’

‘THE LACK OF PARTIES WAS A SHOCK’

Prisons don’t get much more grimly Victorian than Wandsworth, the largest male facility in the UK where Davenport spent nearly three years of his seven year sentence. He said the entire situation was a “bit boring” compared to the life he was used to, with a distinct lack of orgies on offer. On the upside, getting out was like being a “virgin again”.

“You have to make sure you get up in the morning otherwise you miss out on the activity and unfortunately I was ill which made quite a surreal journey through it,” he said, adding white-collar criminals weren’t treated all that badly inside.

“Being in prison for a drug related offence or a financial offence is a totally different thing because it’s just not as frowned upon in that community to the same extent.”

He’s since been forced to sell his Portland Place mansion to cover legal costs and is not looking to move into Asia with his mystery backer.

Despite the documentary dredging up details of his case, he’s “surprised and delighted” by reaction to the show which shows ups and downs of more than three years spent in the fast lane.

“You have a life threatening experience and you think ‘oh I’ve got to really enjoy myself every day’,” he said. “I better make sure I don’t waste my time because when you’re ill you’re ill, you can’t do anything.”

Watch the full documentary at the Vice YouTube Channel.