Mohammad Jafari-Fini must wait to hear whether he will face bankruptcy proceedings brought by Resurge.
The former Chesterton chairman appeared at the high court last week to attempt to set aside a statutory demand for £936,000 issued by Resurge, whose subsidiary Skillglass lent Jafari-Fini the £12.9m to buy an 86.9% stake in Chesterton in April 2003.
The demand, a precursor to bankruptcy proceedings against Jafari-Fini, is for money owed to Resurge for additional shares he bought in Phoenix Acquisition Limited, the vehicle used to buy the agent.
The payment, according to Resurge, was due on 8 July 2004. But Jafari-Fini claims that this is an attempt by Resurge to “stifle” his attempt to regain control of Chesterton from Skillglass. Judge Rich QC has deferred the decision.
Jafari-Fini is conducting a personal claim against Skillglass, saying it unjustly removed him as chairman of Chesterton and took control of Phoenix’s stake in December 2003.
His barrister, James Ayliffe, said the removal of his client was a “coup d’etat”, which Resurge strongly denies.
He is also attempting to take the case against Skillglass on behalf of Phoenix, in a derivative action.
Two weeks ago, Judge Rich QC said he could not bring the action, saying that it was not in Phoenix’s interests. This week, however, he granted Jafari-Fini the right to appeal the decision.
Ayliffe said in court: “They are trying to push my client into bankruptcy to stifle his claims. But my client’s current financial situation has been created by the actions of Skillglass and Resurge.”
Resurge’s barrister David Oliver QC said: “There is no evidence that Resurge had taken any action that could, in any way, compromise its status as a creditor. There is no evidence that Resurge even knew what was going on.”
References: EGi Legal News 01/11/04