A court
has confirmed that King Mswati III of Swaziland cannot sell or dispose of his
private jet until a dispute over his alleged failure to pay a US$3.5 million
debt is resolved.
The ruling was made in the British Virgin Islands on
23 December 2015after the East Caribbean High Court was told that there might
be plans to lease the plane and then lease a second plane for King Mswati’s
use.
There has been a long-running dispute between
Shanmuga Rethenam, who owns a company called SG Air, and the King.
Rethenam, popularly known as Shan, succeeded in
getting a freezing order from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the
British Virgin Islands (BVI) in September 2015.
SG Air claims that King Mswati owes it the money for
repairs and modifications undertaken to his private McDonnell Douglas DC-9-87
aircraft in 2012. The case was heard in the Superior Court in Ontario, Canada,
in June 2015, when the King won on a legal
technicality.
However, pending possible appeals, King Mswati,
through a company he owns called Inchatsavane, was forced to lodge a letter of
credit for US$3.5 million with Canadian lawyers, in case he lost the appeal.
The money was due to be released on 15 September 2015.
Since the Canadian court case, the
Swazi Government announced it intended to try to lease out
the aircraft, valued at about US$14.5 million, and in turn lease the King a
larger, more luxurious jet, with the possibility of buying it at a later date.
The BVI Commercial Court was told the DC-9-87 was
flown from Swaziland to South Africa and back again since September 2015. There
was a dispute that this might violate the freezing order. The plane is
presently at Matsapha Airport in Swaziland.
The freezing order means the King cannot dispose of
the aircraft or its engines until the court case over the alleged debt is
resolved.
The court order was made in the BVI because that is
where SG Air is incorporated.
The judgment
of the BVI Commercial Court, delivered by Judge Gerald St. C. Farara, was
that the freezing order on the aircraft’s movement should continue pending the
outcome of the financial dispute.
2 comments:
c
Very Sad News,But We Hope all will clear and release soon..
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