Gangat & anr (claimants/respondents) v Jassat (defendant/appellant)
Tuesday 22 March 2022
The Appellant, Yusuf Jassatt (Defendant below) appeals the Order of Eason Rajah QC sitting as Deputy High Court Judge, 25 October 2021, by which he ordered there be judgment for the Claimants, that D shall account for the monies in the Richmond Lodge Document together with income and profits (stayed until final determination of PTA in this Court).
Factual background: Cs are businessmen resident in South Africa and D is a businessman with a number of interests, including a property related business trading as Richmond Lodge Management. The Claimants were shareholders in a group of companies carrying out a cash and carry business in South Africa from the 1980s to 1998, when the business was sold. The profits from that business were not declared to the tax authorities in South Africa. A proportion of those profits was expatriated to a Swiss Bank account, which was placed under the control of the Defendant. Cs’ case is that money in the account belonged to them and, although D had initially obtained Cs’ consent to the application of the funds for the purpose of purchasing UK property, D breached his trustee and fiduciary duties in purchasing properties (in addition to Eastover in respect of which consent was given). Cs said this was evidenced in the Richmond Lodge Document.
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