London: During his political exile in Britain, Boris Berezovsky led a colourful and controversial existence. For the first time, however, a darker and more depraved side to the Russian oligarch can be revealed.

It has emerged that the tycoon regularly paid for teenage girls to fly from Eastern Europe or Russia to the UK for sex. He would order his drivers to reach speeds of 140mph on motorways in his £420,000 (Dh2.3 million) armoured Maybach limousine as girls as young as 16 performed sexual acts on him in the back seat.

Once, a 16-year-old wearing a pink tutu was ferried to see the oligarch at the five-star Lanesborough Hotel in London.

Close sources said it was an “open secret that he paid for sex with teenage girls at plush hotels and at his mansion”.

One, who had been flown from Riga in Latvia, asked to leave his home after one night because she did not like the way she had been treated. He agreed but told the driver, Mark Pendlebury, an ex-Paratrooper, to “ensure she missed her flight back to Riga”.

The chauffeur took her through notoriously congested routes in London to ensure she did not catch the plane. When she realised she could not get home, the girl became tearful and was driven back to the mansion where she stayed for a further 24 hours.

Steady supply of girls

“Boris was very pleased and texted me a smiley face,” the chauffeur said. “Such behaviour was accepted practice and not uncommon. He seemed to have a steady supply of young girls from the same source. I felt very guilty about the way the girls were treated, particularly as most of them were the same age as my daughter.”

Pendlebury, who was paid around £100,000 a year, was often asked to take the female guests shopping. “Often, I would have to meet a biker to collect envelopes of money for the girls,” he said. “The patient and light-hearted way we handled his many guests made Boris’ life easier because the girls weren’t bored and complaining constantly.”

During the ‘white-knuckle rides’ on the motorway network, a security driver on a high-powered 800cc motorbike would drive ahead of the tycoon’s limousine to clear a path.

He would intimidate other motorists by driving close to their ear bumpers and keeping his full beam headlights on.

Berezovsky was regularly driven from his home to his office in Mayfair or to meetings at hotels and restaurants.