Tycoon Jimmy Wanjigi in Court over Debt for Designer Clothes Worth Sh1.3 Million

Tycoon Jimmy Wanjigi is embroiled in a court battle with a clothing company over an alleged debt amounting to Sh1.367 million.

The Standard reports that Wanjigi has moved to the High Court to appeal a lower court’s ruling that ordered him to pay Sh1.367 million to Fazal-The Luxury Boutique.

The Nairobi-based high-end clothing retail company sued the billionaire after reportedly failing to pay for five pairs of designer trousers and two jackets sold to him in 2019.

On January 22nd, 2021, Milimani Principal Magistrate D.M. Kivuti ruled in favor of Fazal and directed Wanjigi to settle the debt.

Fazal, whose parent company is Ravello Limited, told the court that Wanjigi owed them Sh1.3 million for the five Ermenegildo Zegna trousers and two Brioni jackets, and a further Sh67,500 for another Zegna pair of trousers he previously obtained but failed to pay for.

Wanjigi filed an appeal at the civil division of the High Court, saying that Ravello never sold the clothes to him. In court documents, he accuses the lower court of basing its ruling on “hearsay” and “twisting facts” in favor of the applicant.

“The honorable trial magistrate erred in law by basing his order, judgment, decision, decree, on hearsay and, or inadmissible evidence and, or unauthorized and unauthenticated WhatApp messages,” court papers state.

“I aver that the contradictions, white lies, and inconsistencies in the statements of the plaintiff’s witnesses namely Peter Macithi and Aziz Fazal could only be dealt with through cross-examination during a full trial of the said-suit, and not through an interlocutory application.”

Ravello told the court that it sold the items to Wanjigi on credit due to the good seller-customer relationship they enjoyed over the years.

The company said the businessman had pledged to make the payments on February 26th, 2020, but failed to fulfill the promise.