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loan dispute pitting two prominent businessmen is resolved by the courts.
Mr Oliver Chidawu and Mr Jayesh Shah are embroiled in a bitter legal dispute over a loan deal which went sour after the former breached the terms of payment.
The refusal by Mr Chidawu to pay back the loan prompted Mr Shah to dispose of the shares he was holding in the former’s three companies as surety, to recover his money.
However, Mr Chidawu took the dispute to court in a bid to stop Mr Shah from selling part of his empire.
But the High Court, last week, threw out Mr Chidawu’s application, which was brought to court under a certificate of urgency, to block the transfer of 380 million shares to the new owner.
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Mr Chidawu’s three firms, Broadway Investments, Danoct Investments and Dannov Investments formerly owned the shares in question.
The businessman borrowed US$2 million from Mr Shah to finance his companies and failed to pay back on time.
This prompted Mr Shah, who was holding on to the three firms’ shares in Pelhams, to sell the shares to TN Asset Management.
A bid by Mr Chidawu to block the sale of shares failed at the High Court before he mounted the latest application to stop the share trans-fer.
But Justice Tendai Uchena dismissed the latest application on the basis that the certificate of urgency was invalid and that the case was improperly before the court.
Mr Chidawu, the court found, did not satisfy the court on why he delayed in filing the urgent chamber application.
Mr Shah loaned Mr Chidawu US$2 million and the money was not paid back.
Mr Shah issued summons demanding back his money while at the same time holding on to shares owned by Mr Chidawu’s three firms as security.
Mr Shah then sold the shares to TN Asset Management.
The trade was done on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange’s bourse.
In the dismissed urgent chamber application, Mr Chidawu argued that the initial agreement was that Mr Shah would loan him US$3 million.
But Mr Chidawu said Mr Shah failed to honour the agreement of US$3 million because he finally gave him US$2 million.
He also argued that Mr Shah had already issued summons that he strongly opposing.
Mr Chidawu argues that the sell was unlawfully conducted without allowing the court to consider the differences he had raised.
Advocate Lewis Uriri instructed by Mr Innocent Chagonda of Atherstone and Cook represented Mr Shah while Mtetwa and Nyambirai law firm acted for TN Asset Management.
Honey and Blanckenberg represented Mr Chidawu and his three companies.
Online Reporter