The multi-millionaire founder of a banking giant has been banned from driving and fined £800 for using a mobile phone while driving his Bentley in London‘s West End.
South African businessman Bernard Kantor, 75, was reported by a cyclist who recorded him checking emails on his phone while stopped at temporary traffic lights.
The former boss of multinational bank Investec fought the charge for a year, but has now pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court in south London.
He admitted to using a handheld mobile phone while driving in Portman Street in central London on June 9 last year.
Kantor already had nine points on his driving licence for three speeding offences and the six points imposed for this latest offence triggered the automatic disqualification.
Prosecutor Barto De Lotbiniere told magistrates: ‘A cyclist saw the defendant in a Bentley motor car in Portman Street and the car was queuing at temporary traffic lights.
‘He recorded the defendant using his mobile phone and submitted the video footage to the police.’
When caught in his black Bentley, Kantor was two miles away from his £5.5million home in St John’s Wood, north-west London.
Businessman Bernard Kantor, 75, pictured outside Croydon Magistrates’ Court, was reported by a cyclist recording him checking emails while stopped at temporary traffic lights.
Investec’s former global MD Bernard Kantor was seen greeting the late Queen Elizabeth II at the Derby racing festival in June 2016, pictured here
His lawyer John Dye told the court: ‘There is footage. People on bikes are recording what people are doing in their cars.
‘To have some sympathy, he was in stationary traffic and checking emails because the traffic was going nowhere.’
Kantor was fined £800 with £85 costs and also ordered to pay a £320 victim surcharge.
Bench chairman Steven Phaure told him: ‘We are going to have to disqualify you as well.
‘For using your mobile phone it is six penalty points we are putting on your licence and that means, as you know, you have 15 points and we will have to disqualify you for a period of six months from today.
‘You cannot drive any motor vehicle on a public road and if you drive while disqualified you will be committing a serious offence and may go to custody.’
Kantor replied, saying: ‘Thank you kindly. Fortunately I never drove here.’
Kantor co-founded Investec with his brother Ian in Johannesburg in 1974 and became the managing director of its British operations in 1997.
Bernard Kantor has admitted to using a handheld mobile phone while driving in Portman Street in west London on June 9 last year
The businessman, seen outside Croydon Magistrates’ Court, has been given a driving ban
The investment banking giant was a long-term sponsor of Test Match cricket in England, at a time when the national side was captained by Sir Alastair Cook.
Investec has backed the Derby Festival in horse racing and continues to sponsor international rugby.
The company has also sponsored Premier League football giants Tottenham Hotspur at a time Gareth Bale was playing for the club.
Kantor, who co-founded banking group Investec four decades ago with Stephen Koseff, stepped down from his leading role at the firm in 2018.
He said at the time he would keep investing in other firms, with shares in companies such as restaurant chains chains Bone Daddies and Flesh & Buns.
He told the Times: ‘I’ve got to recreate something. I can’t just sit back and say, “I’m 68, time to hang up my boots’ – that ain’t going to happen.”
The keen horse racing fan has been providing strategic advice to finance lender NLC.
They say of him on their website: ‘Beyond the boardroom, Bernard’s personal interests, particularly in horse racing and football, mirrored his professional ethos of striving for excellence.
Bernard Kantor (left) is seen with the Aga Khan, Queen Elizabeth II and horse trainer Dermot Weld after the horse Harzand won the Investec Derby in June 2016
Football star Gareth Bale wore Investec branding when playing for Tottenham Hotspur in 2011
Bernard Kantor’s zebra-logo banking firm also backed English Test cricket – former skipper Alastair Cook is seen here alongside New Zealand’s Brendan McCullum at Lord’s in May 2015
‘His involvement in sports, especially the Investec Derby, underscored a blend of passion and strategic branding that helped elevate Investec’s profile on the global stage.’
Reflecting on his business career as he approached retirement in 2018, Mr Kantor told the Times: ‘I’m not a particularly bright guy. I’ve survived through my guts, through emotional contact with people.
‘In fact, if people are not emotionally astute I would choose not to employ them.
‘Technical people you can hire a dime a dozen. Give me people with an understanding of what’s going on.’
MailOnline has contacted Mr Kantor’s office for comment.
