A Georgian heiress successfully sued the seller of a moth-infested Victorian London mansion she purchased for $40 million.
A British court awarded a couple a refund for their £32.5 million ($40 million) London mansion, which was severely infested with moths.
Iya Patarkatsishvili, daughter of Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, and her husband, Yevhen Hunyak, bought the seven-bedroom property from former rower William Woodward-Fisher in 2019. They soon discovered a massive moth infestation, as detailed in court documents filed Monday.
The couple’s lawyers reported to the court that the family was battling approximately 100 moths daily, according to the BBC. Mr. Hunyak testified that moths were found on their children’s toothbrushes, food, and in their drinks. They also claimed approximately £15,000 in clothing damage.
The source of the infestation was identified as the building’s woolen insulation.
The judge ruled that Mr. Woodward-Fisher misrepresented the property’s condition before the sale, failing to disclose “a very serious infestation.”
“He simply wanted to sell the house and move on,” the judge stated.
“As he admitted in cross-examination, disclosure of the infestation would likely have caused the sale to fail, leaving him needing to move and undertake costly repairs (which later took the Claimants’ contractors nearly six months to complete) to remove all the woolen insulation,” the judge added.
The couple sought a full purchase price refund, £3.7 million for land tax, and hundreds of thousands of pounds for damages and pest control expenses.
The judge ordered a refund of the home’s purchase price, minus an amount to account for their occupancy. They will also receive a refund for the tax, along with substantial damages and costs.
The precise award amount and other details will be finalized at a later court hearing this month.
Iya Patarkatsishvili inherited a portion of her father’s estate following his death in 2008. Forbes estimated Badri Patarkatsishvili’s wealth at approximately $12 billion.