Badri Patarkatsishvili’s family has reiterated it does not recognize Joseph Kay’s claims that he has the power of attorney to manage the late tycoon’s assets.

“Dishonorable people have taken advantage of the hardest times for our family (involving the widow, mother, daughters and sisters) and started seizing Badri’s assets against the will of his family; we are being deprived of what he had bequeathed,” the family said in a statement issued on April 2.

Kay, who is Patarkatsishvili’s step cousin, claims that he has the power of attorney to manage Patarkatsishvili’s assets in accordance with the late tycoon’s will. Kay also claims that the will mandates him to collect all of Patarkatsishvili’s assets and properties and to then distribute them in accordance with the will among family members, including Patarkatsishvili’s first wife. Kay also claims to be the owner of Imedi TV and radio stations.

“We do not believe that Kay and his associates act in accordance with Badri’s will,” the Patarkatsishvili family said in the statement. “Despite numerous requests by the family we have not seen any document proving his [Kay’s] power of attorney… Our foreign lawyers are thoroughly studying the issue and we will appeal to the courts.”

Lord Goldsmith, a former UK Attorney General and now head of the New York-based law firm Debevoise & Plimpton’s European litigations, is, among others, acting on the family's behalf.