A Mombasa court has issued an arrest warrant against former Nakumatt Holding Ltd chief executive officer Atul Shah.
The arrest warrant was issued after the former Nakumatt CEO failed to appear before the court to explain why he not be committed to civil jail after he failed to pay Sh74.4 million to the supermarket former landlord at City Mall, Mombasa
Environment and Land Court deputy registrar in Mombasa Christine Ogweno directed police officers in Parklands and Central Police stations in Nairobi to arrest Mr. Atu Shah.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Shah is required to pay the debt in full together with interest and the landlord’s lost income.
The court ruled that the former CEO failed to demonstrate how an insolvency case against Nakumatta Supermarket is a ground not to allow the notice cause against him.
Ideal Locations Ltd gave the notice to show cause against Mr. Shah the reason he should not be committed to civil jail for up to six months for the offense.
In response to the notice, Mr. Shah said he had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court and that he also filed an application for stay of execution of the decree.
However, Ideal Locations Ltd argued that the appeal at the Supreme Court by Mr. Shah was not enough to prevent him from paying the debt since there is no suspension of execution.
Creditors of Nakumatt Supermarket in January decided to wind it up after failing to repay debts following a failed rescue attempt by the government.
Nakumatta has a total debt of Sh38 billion which includes Sh18 billion owed to the suppliers, Sh4billion to the commercial paper holder while the rest to the banks.
The banks that the chain supermarket owe has already identified 11 real estate properties worth Sh3.68 billion linked to Mr. Shah and his family for a possible seizure.
The asset in question includes office blocks, prime lands in Mombasa, Nairobi, and Nakuru, and shopping malls.
The troubles for Mr. doesn’t, however, end with the debts, at the moment the Anti-Banking Fraud Unit under the Directorate of Criminal Investigation is investigating hi, over alleged theft and money laundering.
This implies that Mr. Shah is likely to be charged with criminal and civil proceedings over the failure of Nakumatt in case creditors push for court action after the two investigations.
