Edited sentence: On 14 January 2009 the Mail on Sunday asked how he had financed the purchase of a villa in London.Public records showed that he had paid £2.5 million for the property in 2006: almost 16 times his then salary as an EU commissioner.Reports at the time said that he had sold his shares in an advertising agency and received a large legacy from his mother, but Companies House records showed that the shares were not sold until 2007, while a copy of his mother's will revealed that he had been left only £452,000