Revealed: Grand Designs' 'saddest ever house' - a £10m Devon lighthouse that bankrupted owner and destroyed his marriage - is now at centre of a money-laundering probe

When Edward and Hazel Short's hugely ambitious mission to build their dream home on a clifftop hit the rocks in spectacular style, TV viewers were left in floods of tears.

The couple had ploughed their life savings into the project but ended up drowning in an ocean of debt before they lost everything - with their agonising journey heartbreakingly chronicled in what has been described as Grand Design's 'saddest episode'.

After the collapse of the couple's 20-year marriage Mr Short, 58, finally built the magnificent modernist lighthouse-inspired home with panoramic views across the Atlantic.

Sadly he never got to live in the property which is set on the rugged North Devon coast close to the village of Saunton and was instead forced to sell it off last year for £4.15million - a fraction of the £10million asking price when it first went on the market two years earlier.

The former multi-millionaire never saw a penny from the sale of his beloved Chesil Cliff House which has a stunning four-storey circular tower and has been compared with a James Bond villain's lair.

After losing his fortune and finding work as a prison officer, Mr Short took comfort in the fact that he had at least been able to briefly experience the joys that the house 'will deliver for whoever is lucky enough to live in it'.

Edward Short and his wife Hazel put their life savings into building their fantasy eco-friendly home, known as Chesil Cliff House. But their marriage collapsed under the strain of the project

The couple put all the money they had into the renovation but ended up bankrupt as the costs spiralled. The house eventually went up for sale for £10million but was sold last year for £4.15m

Mr Short (pictured) drowned in a £7million pool of debt and never got to see a penny from the sale of his beloved lighthouse. He found work as a prison officer after losing his money

However the Daily Mail has discovered that the fate of the property - which some observers have come to believe is 'cursed' - remains far from certain and it is likely to be unoccupied for some time to come.

For, in an extraordinary twist, we can reveal that the five bedroom house - which comes complete with a spa, steam room, cinema room as well as a 60ft long infinity pool and a private beach cove - is now at the centre of a money-laundering probe which is part of an international £1.3billion fraud scandal.

The property - which was once rumoured to have attracted the interest of pop superstar Harry Styles - will be sold again after a wide-ranging investigation was launched into Paresh Raja, a British financier who once stacked shelves at Tesco before going on to establish a mortgage lending empire worth billions.

Mr Raja, 59, is said to have borrowed up to £2.6billion from a network of major banks, hedge funds, and private credit institutions through his firm Market Financial Solutions (MFS).

The businessman and the company are now at the centre of legal proceedings and a major investigation after he was accused of funnelling hundreds of millions into personal accounts to build a private property and luxury asset portfolio.

It's alleged in court filings that Mr Raja siphoned off money to fund a 'lavish lifestyle'. He is said to own a luxury residence in Monaco as well as 'at least' three Aston Martins, six Ferraris and three Rolls-Royces.

Mr Raja, who is thought to be living in Dubai, has denied the allegations, insisting there was no fraud or dishonesty and saying he categorically denies any wrongdoing.

Chesil Cliff House will be sold again after it became involved in a wide-ranging investigation into Paresh Raja (pictured), a British financier who once stacked shelves at Tesco before going on to establish a mortgage lending empire worth billions

It's alleged in court filings that Mr Raja siphoned off money to fund a 'lavish lifestyle'. He is said to own a luxury residence in Monaco as well as 'at least' three Aston Martins, six Ferraris and three Rolls-Royces

Now it would appear that Chesil Cliff House has become entangled in the probe into the collapse of his empire.

The property was sold in October 2024 by estate agents Savills who were acting on behalf of Mr Short's creditors.

Last year the Daily Mail revealed that the unlikely new owner of Chesil Cliff House was Sanjay Patel - a former driving instructor who lives in a modest rented semi-detached home in Edgware, north London, with his Polish-born partner Agni de Ankerburg Wagner, 55. 

Neighbours told how Mr Patel, 61, had claimed he had tried his hand as a property investor after being bankrolled by his wealthy sister in India.

He set up a business called Hare Gate Property Ltd in October 2024 which was used to buy Chesil Cliff House.

The company is one of 14 property businesses owned by Mr Patel, which are all named after animals or birds, which entered formal insolvency proceedings earlier this year.

Hare Gate owes £4.975million to another company called Twinwin Ltd, which is also now in liquidation, and is said to have been set up to enable Mr Raja to divert and siphon off investor funds.

MFS is under an ongoing investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Mr Raja is subject to a global asset-freezing order.

All three firms involved in the purchase of the Grand Designs home share the same Central London office according to official documents filed with Companies House.

Chesil Cliff House is the only asset owned by Hare Gate Property and its sole source of income is from collecting rent. But administrators say no rent has been collected and the company isn't viable to continue.

In all, 18 companies owned by Mr Patel - all apparently involved with high end property - have been either dissolved or placed into administration in recent months.

Companies controlled by Mr Patel own at least 11 homes worth tens of millions of pounds in some of London's most exclusive neighbourhoods including Chelsea, Mayfair, St John's Wood and Belgravia.

Last year the Daily Mail revealed that the unlikely new owner of Chesil Cliff House was Sanjay Patel - a former driving instructor who lives in a modest rented semi-detached home in Edgware, north London, with his Polish-born partner Agni de Ankerburg Wagner, 55 

The FCA has been contacted for comment but Mr Patel is not believed to be suspected of wrongdoing. 

He is said to be undergoing treatment for cancer and was unable to discuss the investigation.

Ms de Ankerburg Wagner said: 'I'm not aware of this and there is nobody who can speak to you on his behalf.'

Neighbours told how Mr Patel had previously been involved in the construction industry and believe he may have come under the sphere of Mr Raja or his associates while working on properties.

One said: 'He moved here a couple of years ago. He has a small flat in Wembley which he was doing building work on and he has been renting this place since then from another neighbour who is a pharmacist.

'I am very surprised to hear he is the owner of such a big house. He is certainly not a property tycoon or anything like that. He is not a rich man.

'He was a driving instructor but he has also worked in the building trade and he may well have met people through that.'

Now that Chesil Cliff House is in the hands of administrators it is likely in time to be sold off again to pay creditors.

The troubled history of the property dates back to Mr Short's fateful decision to pursue his boyhood dream of building his own home by the sea.

He made his fortune after creating Euphoria - a long-running and highly successful series of electronic and dance music compilation albums that originally debuted on Telstar Records in early 1999.

Mr Short had grown up in Plymouth and decided to move from London to Devon - with Hazel, 61, and daughters Nicole, 25 and Lauren, 26 - after missing the crashing waves of his childhood.

In 2008, the couple paid £1.4million for an 'ugly' 1950's clifftop house which the family lived in before it was demolished in 2011 to make way for the home they had dreamed of.

The plan was to spend £1.8million on the construction of the new property and move in 18 months later.

In the 2019 Grand Designs episode, Kevin McCloud appeared sceptical of Mr Short's refusal to compromise on design - as a litany of setbacks saw the couple's original loan spiral to £4million.

Introducing the programme the host said: 'If a lighthouse has a single message that it shouts out, it is this: "Stay away - or risk destruction".'

As their funds ran out, Mr Short at first borrowed £500,000 from a hedge fund, then another £2.5million from private investors.

By this point he had decided to build a smaller single storey house first, next to the main development, so that he could secure a larger loan. He then tried to sell the property but was unable to do so because of the prolonged construction work that was taking place on the main house.

During the episode the couple's daughters cheerfully told how they were helping out by holding car boot sales to raise whatever cash they could to help as Mr Short explained their load had been extended to £3million.

Amid a series of setbacks and disasters which saw work halted for long periods Mr Short later went on to explain he would need a further £2million to fix the driveway.

By the end of the episode Mr Short was soldiering on alone, refusing to give up on his dream. By this time his marriage to Hazel had collapsed and the couple's daughters, now grown up, had flown the nest.

In 2022 Mr Short candidly confessed how his 'ambition and vanity' and pursuit of his 'messed-up dreams' had collapsed his marriage.

He said: 'It was awful for the family because I pulled the stability rug from under them, without being able to give answers of how we were going to get out of it, other than that I had to carry on.

'There's no doubt what I put Hazel through was horrendous.

'There's a lot of guilt about that. But there was no way out, once we started. If we didn't finish we'd have been in big trouble.'

After their divorce, Mr Short found love again with nurse Jalia Nambasa. The couple made plans to marry but split in June last year after their romance became another casualty of the turmoil surrounding the house.

Mr Short, who now lives in Bath, said: 'It was a difficult period because she was with me when the house went from not selling to bringing me to the verge of bankruptcy and I was also going through a career change.

'It wasn't easy for her to live through that.'

With eye-watering interest piling on day after day Mr Short said the project had left him 'over £10million in debt'.

When the house was finally finished that year, Mr Short had accepted he would never get to live there but hoped to salvage something from the wreckage by listing it for sale for £10million.

After failing to attract a buyer and repay his debts, creditors took control of the property and listed it for £5.25million - before it was finally sold two years later at a knockdown price.

Now the 'cursed' art deco lighthouse, which took 12 years to build,will go back on the market

Last year Mr Short said ruefully of the impact of their losses on the family: 'There's nothing to pay out so it has left Hazel without any security, which is the awful part and I feel bad about that.

'Normally in a divorce, you would split the sale of a property and both of you have something so you can buy a flat or house but she got nothing.

'She's never said that I've let her down - she doesn't have to - but if I could put that bit right and give her that security back, I would sleep a lot better at night.

'But everything I had, I've lost.'

Mr Short still hasn't given up hope of living in the house again and may get the chance when it goes up for sale again - if his luck dramatically changes.

He said: 'I know my "grand design" is now gone. But I can still buy a lottery ticket and dream.'