Trader asks India to help track man who 'defrauded' him of Sh540,000
John Odero Anditi. He has accused an Indian of defrauding him and has written to the Indian government to help him track the man. PHOTO | JUSTUS OCHIENG | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Kenyan businessman says he ordered goods worth Sh540,000 from the Indian company but it delivered the wrong consignment, and he received goods worth Sh1,500.
- He wants the Indian government to help him track the company director.
- But the Indian company insists it supplied the goods as per the order and says it wants to lodge a formal complaint with the Indian High Commission in Nairobi.
A Kenyan businessman has written to the Government of India asking it to help track an Indian national he accused of defrauding him.
Mr John Odero Anditi, the proprietor of Lema Laboratory Supplies, wrote the letter through the Country’s High Commissioner in Kenya.
FRAUD CLAIM
He claims that Mr Jain Ravi, the director of Jain Laboratory Instruments, defrauded him of Sh540,000 in a business deal.
“On December 22, 2017, I contacted various companies in India concerning an item that I intended to import since it could not be found locally. The item in the picture was a Multiparameter water proof 3pc Hanna brand model H19829 whose value was indicated as USD 5,400 (Sh540,000) by the company called Jain Laboratory Instruments with Mr Jain Ravi as the director,” states Mr Anditi in his letter.
He also attached transaction documents for the goods.
The letter is also copied to Kenyan High Commissioner, India and Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, India.
WRONG GOODS
Mr Anditi said the Indian company supplied the wrong items worth $15 (Sh1,500) after numerous correspondences.
“It was after sending a demand letter after the seven days agreed on had elapsed when he (Mr Ravi) responded by giving Aramex number 3446840832 to help track the goods,” he said.
Mr Anditi said that on scrutiny of the supplied products, the verification indicated “fake items as ordered and invoiced.”
“The wrong consignment is valued at USD 15 (Sh1,500) unlike what we ordered for, that cost USD 5.400 (Sh540,000) with clearing cost of USD 2,000 (Sh200,000), totalling to over USD 7.400 (Sh740,000),” he said.
DENIED
When contacted on Saturday, Mr Ravi referred the Nation to his company’s legal operations boss Mr Mukesh Malhotra, who denied claims of supplying Mr Anditi with the wrong items.
“We have supplied exactly the same instruments that Mr John Anditi has ordered and now he is claiming that we supply some cheap instruments while he or any of his office employees has taken the correct instruments that we have supplied under Aramex AWB No. 3446840832 and for which we have COO and Indian Chamber of Commerce certifying their accuracy and [he] is spreading false information against us,” Mr Malhotra said in an email.
He went on: “We have already asked Indian High Commission in Nairobi to lodge a formal complaint in this matter with [the] local business chamber and legal authorities.”
Mr Anditi said he was ready to give any further information to the Indian Embassy to “prove my case so that Mr Ravi is brought to book.”
