The High Court has ruled that the warrants used by the Serious Fraud Office to search the property of two Iranian Jewish entrepreneurs were unlawfully obtained.

Brothers Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz were arrested in a dawn raid in March 2011 in connection with the SFO's investigation into the collapse of Icelandic banking giant Kaupthing.

But senior judges said today that the SFO search was made possible "by misrepresentation and non-disclosure" to the judge that the warrants were obtained from.

The brothers, who launched a claim for £100 million in damages against the SFO for "wrongful arrest" after the SFO admitted errors in the case, control a vast business portfolio that includes stakes in pub groups Slug & Lettuce and Mitchells & Butlers.