Josea bankruptcy battle drags on

THE financial fate of a key figure in the Avid Investment Corporation/Social Security Commission investment debacle, Nico Josea, is now set to be argued in the High Court in early March.

Yesterday, a few strict words from Judge President Petrus Damaseb helped do the trick of getting rid of a host of preliminary arguments over initial technical objections that have been preventing the hearing and finalisation of three cases that will determine Josea’s future financial fortunes. Before him were three applications: one for the sequestration of Josea’s personal estate, another for the liquidation of Namangol Investments, the asset-management company run by Josea through which the bulk of the SSC’s investment money was channelled, and a third application for a court order to freeze the bank account of another of Josea’s businesses, NCJ Mechanical Maintenance CC.Eric Knouwds, the liquidator in charge of the financial affairs of another asset management company, Avid Investment Corporation, is the applicant in all three cases.Avid was the company with which the SSC had agreed to invest N$30 million for a four-month period in late January last year.The money is yet to be returned to the SSC.After it became clear that Avid was not able to repay the money, the SSC in July last year had the company placed under liquidation by the High Court, which then ordered a Companies Act inquiry into Avid’s affairs in an effort to find out what had happened to the money.Josea soon emerged as a key figure in the courtroom saga that evolved out of the attempt to establish where the SSC’s money had gone.The High Court heard that Avid sent N$29,5 million of the SSC’s money to Namangol Investments.Josea transferred N$20 million of this money to a South African supposed financial trader, Allan Rosenberg, but received N$15 million back from Rosenberg in early March last year – and then went on a spending spree of note in which he managed to either spend, invest or give away close to N$15 million within a matter of weeks.Josea claims that the money was given to Namangol Investments, and that he was fully entitled to use it as he saw fit.The SSC’s money, he claims, is still due to be returned once an unusually lucrative international investment that Rosenberg was engaged in matures in March this year.Not impressed by this explanation, the SSC – through Avid liquidator Knouwds – has set its sights on Namangol’s and Josea’s personal assets in a bid to recover the money.Josea has been preparing a robust defence against the legal actions against him and his company.With his lawyers – Jaco van Rooyen, Derrick Greyling and André Louw – challenging Knouwds and his legal team – Andrew Corbett and Rocco Kauta – on a range of legal points, the cases have been developing into a weighty paper war, which has been sprouting preliminary objections, objections to objections, and opposition to objections.These preliminary issues were set to be argued before the Judge President yesterday and today.When proceedings started yesterday, Van Rooyen told the Judge President that his team and Corbett have agreed to drop some of their objections.However, when Van Rooyen and Corbett informed the Judge President that they had not reached agreement about who would pay the costs of the cases so far, Judge President Damaseb was not pleased.By not agreeing on the issue of the costs, they were not lightening the court’s burden, since it would still have to look at the merits of the initial objections in order to give a ruling on the costs issue, the Judge President said.An adjournment did wonders towards the reaching of a compromise, though, and two hours later Van Rooyen and Corbett presented the court with an agreement that each of the parties would pay its own legal costs, and the matters would be postponed to March 2, 3 and 6 to be finally argued.The merits of the cases – whether NCJ Mechanical Services CC’s bank account should be frozen, and whether Josea and Namangol Investments should in effect be declared bankrupt – will then be argued, it was agreed.Also to be argued then are three remaining preliminary points: whether Josea was properly served with the court documents setting in motion the legal actions against him and his businesses, whether Knouwds has the necessary legal standing to pursue the matters against him, and whether some of the contents of an affidavit that Josea has filed with the court should be allowed as evidence.Before him were three applications: one for the sequestration of Josea’s personal estate, another for the liquidation of Namangol Investments, the asset-management company run by Josea through which the bulk of the SSC’s investment money was channelled, and a third application for a court order to freeze the bank account of another of Josea’s businesses, NCJ Mechanical Maintenance CC.Eric Knouwds, the liquidator in charge of the financial affairs of another asset management company, Avid Investment Corporation, is the applicant in all three cases.Avid was the company with which the SSC had agreed to invest N$30 million for a four-month period in late January last year.The money is yet to be returned to the SSC.After it became clear that Avid was not able to repay the money, the SSC in July last year had the company placed under liquidation by the High Court, which then ordered a Companies Act inquiry into Avid’s affairs in an effort to find out what had happened to the money.Josea soon emerged as a key figure in the courtroom saga that evolved out of the attempt to establish where the SSC’s money had gone.The High Court heard that Avid sent N$29,5 million of the SSC’s money to Namangol Investments.Josea transferred N$20 million of this money to a South African supposed financial trader, Allan Rosenberg, but received N$15 million back from Rosenberg in early March last year – and then went on a spending spree of note in which he managed to either spend, invest or give away close to N$15 million within a matter of weeks.Josea claims that the money was given to Namangol Investments, and that he was fully entitled to use it as he saw fit.The SSC’s money, he claims, is still due to be returned once an unusually lucrative international investment that Rosenberg was engaged in matures in March this year.Not impressed by this explanation, the SSC – through Avid liquidator Knouwds – has set its sights on Namangol’s and Josea’s personal assets in a bid to recover the money.Josea has been preparing a robust defence against the legal actions against him and his company.With his lawyers – Jaco van Rooyen, Derrick Greyling and André Louw – challenging Knouwds and his legal team – Andrew Corbett and Rocco Kauta – on a range of legal points, the cases have been developing into a weighty paper war, which has been sprouting preliminary objections, objections to objections, and opposition to objections.These preliminary issues were set to be argued before the Judge President yesterday and today.When proceedings started yesterday, Van Rooyen told the Judge President that his team and Corbett have agreed to drop some of their objections.However, when Van Rooyen and Corbett informed the Judge President that they had not reached agreement about who would pay the costs of the cases so far, Judge President Damaseb was not pleased.By not agreeing on the issue of the costs, they were not lightening the court’s burden, since it would still have to look at the merits of the initial objections in order to give a ruling on the costs issue, the Judge President said.An adjournment did wonders towards the reaching of a compromise, though, and two hours later Van Rooyen and Corbett presented the court with an agreement that each of the parties would pay its own legal costs, and the matters would be postponed to March 2, 3 and 6 to be finally argued.The merits of the cases – whether NCJ Mechanical Services CC’s bank account should be frozen, and whether Josea and Namangol Investments should in effect be declared bankrupt – will then be argued, it was agreed.Also to be argued then are three remaining preliminary points: whether Josea was properly served with the court documents setting in motion the legal actions against him and his businesses, whether Knouwds has the necessary legal standing to pursue the matters against him, and whether some of the contents of an affidavit that Josea has filed with the court should be allowed as evidence.