A LOCAL catering firm, Tanaka Ventures, has taken diamond miner, Marange Resources, to court over a $476 373,57 debt for services rendered two years ago.
BY CHARLES LAITON
Marange Resources were issued with summons sometime in July last year and the matter is set to be heard in court this week.
In its declaration, the catering firm accused Marange Resources of failing to settle the debt despite signing an acknowledgement of debt on February 24 last year.
Tanaka Ventures claimed that sometime in December 2011, they signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), where they provided catering services to the gem miners.
The agreement was renewed annually and the last was for the period December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014.
“In breach of the material terms of the MoU, defendant has breached the terms of the agreement since September 5, 2013 by failing to make timeous payments,” Tanaka said.
“On February 24, 2015, the defendant (Marange) executed an acknowledgement of debt wherein it admitted to its liability in the sum of $493 949,41 and has since paid some monies reducing the debt to $476 373,57.”
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But Marange Resources denied entering into such an agreement with the catering firm.
“Defendant denies entering into the alleged agreement, particularly in the absence of proof of authority of the persons who signed the purported agreement to act and sign on behalf of the parties in the matter,” Marange said in its plea.
“The contents of the purported acknowledgement of debt are disputed. Defendant did not sign the document which was unilaterally and wrongly prepared without any factual or legal basis.”
Marange Resources added: “It is telling that the plaintiff openly admits in the purported acknowledgement of debt to complete inability to provide fully signed documentation that justifies the amount claimed, which is a useful pointer to the baseless nature of the claim.”
The matter is set to be heard in chambers.
