London, Aug. 23: Anna Hazare ought to take a bit of time off, air dash to London and sort out some interesting financial dealings going on in the Mountbatten family.

The current head of the Mountbatten family is one George Mountbatten, the 4th Marquess of Milford Haven, 50, who set up a company called uSwitch in 2000.

The idea of uSwitch was explained by The Guardian: “The polo playing cousin of the Queen set up the business in 2000 to take advantage of the deregulated gas and electricity markets, which allowed consumers to switch suppliers. The website enables consumers to compare prices and change suppliers and has grown… fast in the past year.”

In 2006, uSwitch was sold to an American newspaper publisher and TV broadcaster EW Scripps, which beat off rival bidders Experian and DMGT, to make the acquisition for £210m.

Milford Haven made an estimated £126m from the sale. An Indian, Vipul Amin, said to be based in the US, also made a handy £25m.

After the sale of uSwitch, several former shareholders woke up with a shock. They had sold their shares in uSwitch in 2005 for 50p, while the acquisition had been at 567p per share.

They were not pleased when they learnt that a front company had been mopping up the shares, allegedly on behalf of Milford Haven, prior to the big sale.

Nine former shareholders, some said to be friends of Milford Haven, sued him alleging they had been duped into selling their shares cheaply.

Milford Haven has now settled out of court with both sides agreeing to silence but some details have leaked out.

The former shareholders had taken out legal action in the High Court against Milford Haven, Vipul Amin and others, “claiming deceit, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy by unlawful means”.

The Times, London, has reported: “The claimants argued that Lord Milford Haven made £126.6million from the sale.... The investors argued that they had been deceived into believing that their holdings were worth less than they were because Lord Milford Haven and the executives manipulated uSwitch’s accounts to artificially deflate profits.”

They argued that they believed they were selling the shares to MCC Inc, an American investment company. Instead, they unknowingly sold to MCC Limited, an offshore front for Milford Haven, who, they claimed, accumulated a block of shares in secret before selling them at a huge profit to Scripps.

It was alleged the shares had been bought by Anthony Moore, MCC Inc’s chairman, who helped Milford Haven procure their shares in return for a £500,000 success fee. Moore was also named as a defendant.

The Times also reported that in July 2006, Moore forwarded an e-mail to Milford Haven with a note saying: “We may have a problem.”

The following day, Moore sent another e-mail: “It is now very clear to me that I took on huge risk for which I was pitifully compensated,” he wrote. “Even worse the company sold for many times the valuation put on it when we agreed a deal. But not a gesture from you guys towards me.”

Milford Haven responded: “My dear Anthony. Quite clearly you are suffering from the effects of a menstrual cycle. I am going to speak to my doctor to find the best medicine.”

Lawyers for Milford Haven said the 50p the former shareholders received was fair. The higher price for uSwitch paid by Scripps was justified by an “unanticipated surge” in its business following price rises by British Gas in September 2005 and February 2006, after they had sold their shares.

Anna Hazare may be satisfied by this explanation — or perhaps not.