Investec boss Fani Titi and his business partner have emerged victorious in a court battle with their erstwhile business partner- turned-nemesis Peter-Paul Ngwenya.
Titi and a partner at a boutique law firm, Tugendhaft Wapnick Banchetti (TWB), were accused by Ngwenya of colluding to swindle him out of millions of rand in dividends. Ngwenya, a former Umkhonto weSizwe operative who spent five years on Robben Island, said in court papers that he had been duped by Titi and TWB partner Zoe Banchetti.
He said Banchetti was introduced to him by Titi as the attorney who was representing both Columbia (Ngwenya’s company) and Alphabet (Titi’s company) in an R48.8-million deal to buy Gagasi FM and Heart FM more than 10 years ago.
Ngwenya said Investec funded the deal to the tune of R32.6-million (the loan was supposed to be serviced out of dividends and secured by the assets being acquired), while he and Titi were supposed to raise the balance of R16.2-million. However, he said he and Columbia did not have the required capital. Ngwenya said Titi then offered to lend Columbia the R8.1-million with a “verbal loan agreement”.
Ngwenya then alleges that what he had agreed on with Titi was not what Banchetti drafted and that he was “made to sign” the contract without reading it thoroughly. Judge EF Dippenaar said Ngwenya’s contention that he was duped was implausible.
“Mr Ngwenya is not an unsophisticated person.
On the contrary, he is a very sophisticated businessman and financier with extensive knowledge of financial transactions over a long period of time.” Ngwenya and Titi have been in and out of court over the past few years.
In 2020, Ngwenya was fined R24 000 or 12 months’ imprisonment for his use of the k-word against his old friend. This was after he was found guilty of crimen injuria for calling Titi a “k***r” and “Bantustan boss” in a text message.
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