Victoria Commercial Bank Hires Top UK Law Firm In Defamation Case Against Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi

Wednesday, January  22, 2020

IN SUMMARY
Schillings is a celebrity company renowned for reputation management and defamation issues.

Schillings is currently representing the royal couple Prince Harry and his wife Meghan in their suit against British tabloid newspaper Mail on Sunday after it published a private letter she wrote to her father last year.

A top British law firm currently representing Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle has been hired to tackle a defamation row with a controversial blogger Cyprian Nyakundi

In a statement to the dailies, Victoria Commercial Bank (VCB) says it has enlisted the services of London-based Schillings, renowned for reputation management and defamation issues, in its case against Mr Nyakundi.

The latest move by Victoria Commercial Bank in the defamation case against Mr Nyakundi and his counterpart Emmanuel Nyamweya Ong’era clearly shows the seriousness with which the financial institution is fighting to guard its reputation.

Mr Nyakundi and Mr Ong’era were arrested by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers on Monday January 20, 2020 at Westgate Mall, Nairobi, on allegations of extortion, blackmail and false accusations.

They allegedly demanded Sh17.5 million to take the posts down and had just received Sh1 million from their victims when they were arrested in a sting operation.

VCB in a statement, says it initiated further legal action against the controversial blogger after its plea to have him remove or delete the defamatory posts bore no fruit.

• “We chose not to pay money to have the blogs removed but, instead, took the necessary legal steps to defend the bank’s reputation through our counsel, Schillings, a highly reputable British law firm,” VCB said in the statement signed by CEO Yogesh Pattni.

VCB says, court had in September last year issued an injunction requiring that the online posts be removed, but the blogger failed to do so and instead posted many more stories, prompting it to start a case against him in the High Court of Kenya.

• “He has failed to remove the blogs and has published additional defamatory posts. As a result, contempt-of-court proceedings have been issued against him,” it added.