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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
A BID by Tetrad Holdings to reclaim 10 immovable properties sold by public auction to recover more than $5 million owed to National Social Security Authority (NSSA) hit a brick wall after the Supreme Court struck off the appeal.
The bank has been battling to stop the sale of the properties for the past two years.
The properties were used as collateral for a $5 million loan given to Tetrad by NSSA.
The transfer of ownership to the buyers has since been made on seven of the 10 properties following the High Court ruling last year.
Transfer of the last three properties to new owners is currently processed.
On Friday, Tetrad was dealt a heavy blow after the Supreme Court refused to hear its appeal against the decision of the High Court to allow the sale and transfer of the properties.
During the hearing, Tetrad sought to argue that the properties were sold for a song.
Normally when property is sold by public auction the highest bidder gets the nod.
The financial institutional tried every possible way in the law to quash the High Court decision without success.
At the end of almost two hours of argument, a three-judge panel led by Justice Paddington Garwe agreed with submissions by Advocate Eric Matinenga, instructed by Chihambakwe, Mutizwa and Partners, and struck the matter off the roll.
In the High Court Tetrad Holdings sought to stop NSSA, through the Sheriff, from transferring ownership of properties its directors offered the compulsory pensions firm as collateral for a loan that the group failed to repay.
Tetrad alleged that the properties were sold at prices far below market value.
The financial group wanted to stop ownership transfer to the different buyers and to reverse the attachment and the subsequent sale of the assets.
In its appeal, Tetrad Holdings tried to distance itself from its subsidiary, Tetrad Investment Bank (TIB), and argued that court rulings against the bank, should not be confused for rulings against the holding company.
NSSA, however, insisted it had advanced the loan to Tetrad Holdings, not its subsidiary, and therefore it could not be stopped from selling the properties.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, then High Court judge expressed his displeasure at the financial services group’s arguments, and equated the conduct of the company to mischievous village japeries.
“The applicant’s (Tetrad Holdings) strategy in this respect reminds me of two village pranks in our area who used to start a fight between themselves whenever food and drink were running low (only) to regroup, sit down and enjoy the left-overs after everyone else had fled in panic,” said Justice Bhunu.
The properties that were sold in March last year belonged to Sizy Security (Private) Limited, Anne Butler Property Company, VG Seven Investments, VG Eight Investments, VG Nine Investments, VG Ten Investments, VG Eleven Investments, VG Twelve Investments, VG Fourteen Investments and VG Fifteen Investments.
NSSA was in 2014 given the greenlight to attach Tetrad’s assets to recover nearly $5 million plus interest it was owed by the financial services group.
NSSA had sued defaulting Tetrad along with 10 other companies that acted as guarantors for the loans advanced to the troubled financial concern.
Creditors are hotly pursuing both Tetrad Holdings and its subsidiary, TIB.
The Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) was in July last year appointed the provisional judicial manager of the banking arm.
In turn, the DPC appointed Ngoni Kudenga of BDO Zimbabwe Chartered Accountants as its provisional judicial management agent.
As August 30, 2015, TIB was reeling under a negative $42,99 million liquidity gap, with Judicial managers suggesting that TIB required about $51 million in fresh capital, which was in doubt after several institutions that had expressed interest in taking over the firm ripped apart by poor governance, developed cold feet.
At a creditors’ meeting held sometime last year, creditors were asked to approve a scheme to convert their debts into equity or lose their investments.
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