Multimillionaire hedge fund manager Crispin Odey has appeared in court accused of assaulting a young investment banker in the late 1990s. Odey, 61, allegedly “engineered” a situation whereby he could invite a junior employee from a major investment bank back to his Chelsea home on 13 July 1998. He is then said to have changed out of his suit into a dressing gown and “launched himself” at the complainant, pushing his hand inside her blouse to grab her breast and putting his hand up her skirt. Prosecutor Aaron McCalister told the court the complainant was in her 20s at the time of the alleged offence. He clarified that although Odey is accused of putting his hand in the woman’s blouse, it is not claimed it was inside her bra. The court heard the alleged victim first went to the police with her complaint three years ago, but that she had first contacted Odey himself about the incident, in 2013. Odey, whose first name is Robin but uses his middle name Crispin, appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court in London on Monday, where he denied one count of indecent assault. The vocal Brexit backer, who is worth about £800m according to the Sunday Times Rich List, appeared in the dock in a dark suit and pale blue shirt. Crispin Aylett QC, for Odey, described the allegations as “immensely damaging for Mr Odey, both professionally and personally”, and called for the case to be dealt with as swiftly as possible in the magistrates’ courts. Chairman of the bench Richard Duncalf declined an application by the prosecution to have the case sent to the crown court, and listed it for a two-day trial at Hendon magistrates’ court on 17 and 18 February. Mr Duncalf granted Odey bail on the condition he does not contact the complainant. Odey was accompanied by his wife, Nichola Pease, also a hedge fund manager, whom he married in 1991. He was briefly married to the media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s eldest daughter, Prudence, in the mid 1980s. Odey has courted controversy over the course of his career through his investment strategies. He told the BBC “Il mattino ha l’oro in bocca” – the morning has gold in its mouth – on the day after the 2016 EU referendum, after netting £220m betting the markets would fall. In 2008 he earned £28m after successfully predicting the credit crunch, and backed a no-deal Brexit, but denied he was doing so in order to profit from a fall in the value of British companies. In a statement, Mr Odey said: “I’m pleased that the magistrates have agreed to hear this historic matter quickly. I look forward to having the facts heard and maintain the allegation is untrue.”