The son of a wealthy Liberal Democrat donor is suing his wife to prevent her disclosing “pillow talk” about his part in a Rolls-Royce corruption inquiry.

Bhanu Choudhrie is taking legal action against Simrin, his wife, to bar her from disclosing what he says are confidential details about the investigation and his business associates.

The entrepreneur admits he disclosed confidential information to his wife after he was questioned as part of an investigation into claims of bribery by Rolls-Royce in 2014.

Mr Choudhrie, 40, and his father Sudhir, 69 – who has donated more than £1.5 million to the Lib Dems since 2004 – were arrested and questioned by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in 2014 as part of an inquiry into bribery allegations at the Derby-based firm. They were released and have not been charged.

The company, Europe’s largest maker of commercial jet engines, agreed in January 2017 to pay about £670 million to settle US and UK investigations into allegations its representatives bribed foreign officials.

The deferred prosecution agreement reached by Rolls-Royce allows the company to avoid prosecution in exchange for full co-operation. But the SFO is now looking into allegations that Rolls-Royce illegally used middlemen such as Mr Choudhrie and his father to conduct deals.