£36m – UK’s biggest ever material information case?
A Georgian oligarch’s daughter is suing vendor for £36m for moth ‘plague’ in home that was not disclosed.
Iya Patarkatsishvili is suing William Woodward-Fisher the vendor of her Victorian Notting Hill Mansion for £36m for failing to disclose a serious moth infestation.
Iya Patarkatsishvili is the daughter of Georgian oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died in mysterious circumstances after falling out with Putin. She and her dentist husband bought Horbury Villa (pictured) for £32.5m in 2019 from high-end developer and former champion rower Woodward-Fisher.
Plague of moths
When the couple moved in they discovered the house had a ‘plague’ of moths which devoured their clothes, fell into their food and drinks and even landed on their toothbrushes.
The couple’s lawyer, John McGhee KC, said they were having to kill up to 100 moths a day. Even after extensive treatments, the numbers only fell to 35.
Patarkatsishvili alleges that the moths were living in the house’s wool insulation, which was in both the walls and the ceilings.
According to a report in the Times, the couple are claiming that Woodward-Fisher “was either guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation” or “negligence” by failing to disclose previous moth issues when answering pre-sale enquiries about the possibility of vermin in the house.
As a result, Patarkatsishvili is demanding the judge orders Woodward-Fisher to buy back the house plus costs and compensation (£36m).
Not vermin
Woodward-Fisher denies the allegations saying that he gave “honest and full replies” on the pre-sale form and that any previous moth problem had been “eliminated by the time of the exchange”.
He had apparently informed his solicitor about the issue but had been assured that the insects “were not vermin and therefore not relevant to this enquiry”.
Whether moths are legally “vermin” and should be included in the enquiry form is one of the key aspects of this as yet unresolved and expensive case.
