Police hunt Tetra Pak heir after car accident claims
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The heir to a multibillion-pound drinks carton empire was being sought by police last night after reports that he failed to stop after an accident.
Officers want to talk to Hans Kristian Rausing, 44, heir to the Tetra Pak billions, after witnesses reported that his car was being driven erratically on Sunday.
Mr Rausing and his wife, Eva, also 44, are currently on bail over alleged cocaine and heroin offences after an incident earlier in the year. Mrs Rausing is accused of trying to smuggle drugs into a function at the American embassy.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We can confirm that a member of the public attended Ealing police station to report an Audi Quattro having failed to stop following being in collision with his vehicle in Chiswick at approximately 8.40pm on 15 June.
"At 8.45pm we were contacted by a member of the public to reports of a car driving erratically on the M4/A4. Officers attended an address in Chelsea to make further inquiries but the registered keeper of the vehicle was not at the address. Inquiries continue."
Mr Rausing's father, also called Hans, is a Swedish billionaire who built up the Tetra Pak empire with his late brother Gad.
His fortune is said to be around £5.4 bn, putting the family seventh on the Sunday Times Rich List.
Family properties around the world include a £50m estate in Barbados and an apartment on the cruise liner The World. They also have a 3,000-acre country retreat in East Sussex.
On 8 April, Mr Rausing and his wife were arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs after Mrs Rausing reportedly tried to smuggle small amounts of crack cocaine and heroin into the US embassy. The couple were bailed pending further inquiries.
After her arrest, Mrs Rausing admitted: "I am ashamed of my actions. I hope in due course to get back on track. I am sorry for the upset I have caused. I thank my family and friends for the kindness and understanding they have shown me."
Last night speaking through an intercom at the family mansion in Belgravia, a woman who identified herself as the maid said Mr and Mrs Rausing were not at home and she did not know where they were or when they would be coming back.