Economy

Kamani sues Swiss envoy in extortion claim

kamani

Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to Kenya (left) and Deepak Chamanlal Kamani. PHOTOS | FILE

Billionaire businessman Deepak Kamani Monday took his battle against possible prosecution for his alleged role in the Anglo-Leasing scam a notch higher with the filing in court of an extortion petition against Swiss ambassador to Kenya Jacques Pitteloud.

Mr Kamani says in court documents that Mr Pitteloud tried to extort $55 million (about Sh4.8 billion) from him in exchange for assistance to terminate money laundering investigations by Swiss authorities.

The documents were filed in support of a suit Mr Kamani lodged in the High Court seeking to stop Kenya’s Attorney-General from honouring a request by his Swiss counterpart for assistance with investigations into the businessman’s affairs.

Mr Kamani has attached in his court filings alleged correspondence between him and Mr Pitteloud showing that the two even met at Mr Kamani’s house to resolve the matter.

Through his lawyer Paul Nyamodi, Mr Kamani accuses Mr Pitteloud of abusing his accreditation to Kenya as a diplomat and of breaching the diplomatic process.

The tycoon is also seeking to know how the Swiss ambassador got his phone number, under what capacity he called him and what his personal interest is in the matter.

The text messages attached as evidence in the case show that the two met at Mr Kamani’s house on May 28.

It was during the meeting that the envoy allegedly made the offer to terminate the pending investigations if Mr Kamani remitted the money to the Swiss Government.

“Dear Mr Kamani, thank you once again for your delightful hospitality. My partners have agreed to hold their horses until Tuesday, which gives enough time to properly assess the situation. Warm regards, JP,” reads the text sent immediately after the two first met.

Mr Pitteloud says in another message sent on June 3, when the duo was to meet again, that his “friends” had been pushing him to get Mr Kamani’s quick response as they were eager to “start the other option, which I would regret very much.”

The two then met on the same afternoon at Mr Kamani’s residence, for slightly under an hour, according to an affidavit filed by Neupane Kul Bhandur, Mr Kamani’s house manager.

The tycoon accuses the envoy of intimidating him several times and monitoring his movement prior to their first meeting.

Mr Kamani says that before he met Mr Pitteloud for the first time, the envoy sent him a text message welcoming him back from India – prompting the tycoon to ask whether the Swiss Embassy is allowed to monitor the movement of Kenyan citizens.

“Does the Swiss Embassy employ its own resources to track Kenyan citizens or that of the Government of Kenya?” he asks.

Mr Kamani is further alleging that the request by the Swiss Federal Attorney-General to partner with his Kenyan counterpart Githu Muigai in investigating him is a direct result of his refusal to pay the amount demanded.

READ: Kamani fights Switzerland plea for Anglo-Leasing files

The businessman claims that Mr Pitteloud asked him to pay the sum to the Swiss government in what he referred to as a settlement for the contracts entered into by Mr Kamani’s companies and the Government of Kenya.

“He assured me that if I did not come up with the money he wanted then I should expect a rough time,” Mr Kamani says in his court papers.

“I informed Mr Pitteloud that I would not pay the money he wanted as I could not afford to pay such a colossal sum.”

Mr Kamani says that even if he were in a position to pay the money demanded, he would not do so as he had not done anything wrong.

Mr Kamani also wants the Attorney-General to furnish him with all the contracts documents that the Government of Kenya has signed with six of his companies.

Mr Kamani’s claims came as the Attorney-General responded to Mr the tycoon’s application, accusing him of filing it prematurely.

“The application is misconceived for the reason that it seeks to impede the Republic of Kenya from the exercise of a sovereign act of state to cooperate with another sovereign state in international judicial cooperation,” Prof Muigai says.

The AG further told the court that the application had been overtaken by events as the act of cooperation with Switzerland had already been initiated.

This was in reference to the handing over of 12 boxes with files to the Swiss authorities on July 17.

The AG handed over the files to Mr Pitteloud but the envoy said the investigations are still a long way from being concluded.

Prof Muigai further told the court that text messages cannot be relied on as evidence in Kenya, citing the provisions of the Evidence Act.

Justice Isaac Lenaola set October 24 as the hearing date of the matter before Justice Mumbi Ngugi.