Kenyan contractor in Sh5.1bn fight with US private equity fund

A Kenyan entrepreneur, who founded troubled construction firm Spencon, has sued a US private equity fund for $50 million (Sh5.1 billion) he claims to have lost when the fund fraudulently acquired a 60.68 per cent stake in the company.

Jitendra Chhotabhai Patel filed the suit in the US Court of the District of Columbia seeking discovery — a process that would compel Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) to provide him with information he wants to use in suits against the fund in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK and East Africa.