Former Nakumatt CEO Atul Shah will soon have his personal assets worth at least Sh2 billion auctioned.
Bank of Africa has the go-ahead from the High Court to sell the assets, a move that will see the lender recover at least Sh700 million of the money owed to them.
Justice Mary Kasango gave the nod for the bank to auction property under the name Collogne Investment. The company is owned by Mr Shah.
The auction will take place as from August 24.
Collogne Investment argued that the should the auction go on as scheduled, they would lose office space, adding that the company was set as collateral for other loans.
The company also told the court that they would be met with legal suits by third parties who have rented space in the office block located in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.
But Justice Kasango ruled, “Bearing what is before me I am of the view that the plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that its appeal is not frivolous and I do find that the defendant bank stands to suffer greater hardship if an injunction is granted since the debt is not being serviced.”
The collapsed retailer owes its suppliers Sh18 billion, commercial paper holders some Sh4 billion and Sh8 billion for various banks.
For example, DTB is owed Sh3.6 billion, Standard Chartered Sh900 million, KCB Sh1.9 billion, Bank of Africa Sh328 million, UBA Sh126 million and GT Bank Sh104 million.
On January 9, two days after Nakumatt was liquidated, creditors identified billions worth of assets linked to the retail’s founder and members of his family.
Some of the assets listed by the administrator included a Ksh2 billion property in Nairobi owned by Collogne, Park View Shopping Arcade (Ksh600 million), a Ksh220 million plot in Westland under Nakumatt Investments, an office block valued at Ksh350 million in Mombasa and River View Plaza, which is worth Ksh200 million.
Detectives from the Anti-banking fraud under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are also probing theft and money laundering claims that allegedly brought Nakumatt to its knees.
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