[2] He was formerly a close friend of Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
[3][4] His grandfather on his mother's side was the philosopher and theologian Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammed Kazem Assar, who held the chair of philosophy at Tehran University.
[11] He was a close friend of Boris Johnson, who later became the Mayor of London and British Prime Minister,[12] as well as of Count Gottfried von Bismarck.
[10] Guppy and a business partner, Benedict Marsh, hired a man to fake a robbery, discharge a firearm and tie them up.
[17][18] Guppy also pleaded guilty in March 1993 to three separate charges, relating to illegal VAT claims on gold bullion later smuggled into India between October 1989 and July 1990.