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Cape Town - Heather Kerzner, who is engaged to ex-Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson, has instructed a top London lawyer to find a way to recover money she invested in the PR firm.
“I invested a substantial amount of money in good faith at the end of April, four months before the company collapsed,” she told the Financial Times in an interview, which was published on Friday. “I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t seek legal advice in that situation.”
Sol Kerzner’s ex-wife had invested millions of pound into the firm, which saw her and Henderson increase their stake to 40%, valued at £7m (R125.6m), The Times reported.
Bell Pottinger was placed under the administration of BDO, after clients ditched the public relations firm following its expulsion from the Public Relations and Communications Association.
That followed a complaint lodged by the Democratic Alliance regarding Bell Pottinger’s work for the Guptas, in which it alleged the firm incited racial hatred in South Africa through their campaign to divert the narrative from state capture, which has plagued the friends of President Jacob Zuma.
Kerzner is being represented by top lawyer Dan Morrison of London law firm Grosvenor Law, The Times reported. Grosvenor Law wrote to BDO to ask questions regarding Kerzner’s investment, Kerzner told the FT.
Kerzner and Henderson have postponed their wedding, which was due to take place in November.
While the PR firm has collapsed, Save South Africa has called on various groups to explain how Bell Pottinger helped them.
“We are particularly offended that Bell Pottinger was commissioned by a private company and yet collaborated in work of a political nature in a sovereign state – among other things, by writing speeches for the ANC Youth League and MK Military Veterans’ Association, as revealed in the ‘Gupta emails’,” the action group said in a statement recently.
“The ANCYL, MKMVA, BLF and the Decolonisation Foundation must explain this – as must the ANC itself.”
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