A MAN who left Jersey owing Islanders tens of thousands of pounds before marrying one of the richest women in America has been awarded a reputed million-dollar divorce settlement.

Local creditors are now calling on Jeremy Grig Harvey to hand back some of that cash.

It is believed the 61-year-old received the settlement from Betty Scripps, a publishing heiress worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

The couple’s marriage was announced in the New York Times to have taken place on Valentine’s Day 1998 in the Dominican Republic, and she took the name Scripps Harvey.

However, it lasted only until around the end of 2003, by which time divorce proceedings were under way.

Now living in Charlottesville, Virginia, Mr Harvey left Jersey in 1996 or 1997 after being summonsed to appear in the Royal Court or the Petty Debts Court on 88 occasions.

Of those, 72 were claims against him personally and the remainder against companies for which he was responsible.

With interest and legal fees, it is estimated that he now owes more than £200,000.

Some of those debts have been settled, but a significant number remain unpaid.