Tycoon's widow appeals ruling in Sh174m loan case

The battle pitting Mombasa tycoon Bayusuf Mohammed’s widow Noor Ali Islam Jeizan against Diamond Trust Bank over Sh174 million has moved to the Court of Appeal.

Islam, in her appeal, wants the court to block the bank from selling her property to recoup the amount said to be a loan.

According to her, the loan that her late husband had taken was fully repaid, and there was an extra Sh17 million which the bank ought to have refunded.

High Court Judge Kizito Magare dismissed her plea to stop the auction.

Aggrieved, Islam moved to the Court of Appeal arguing that her children and mother will be left homeless if the lender goes ahead to sell the property.

“The property scheduled for auction is a residential house where my children live together with my elderly mother. Unless the orders sought are granted, my children and elderly mother will be left destitute of a home,” Islam argues.

The battle surrounds a company owned by Islam and her late husband Anwar Mohamed, and DTB. The company is called Anwar Mohamed Bayusuf Limited.

DTB sold off a yard and the trucks arguing that Bayusuf had defaulted paying the loan. The agreement was to pay at least 26 percent per annum on the amount borrowed. In addition, the bank went for the house left to Islam by placing it for auction last year.

At the centre of the row between the two is some Sh174 million. The stories given to the court by both are heaven and earth apart. On one hand, Islam claimed that DTB created fictitious accounts that resulted in the contested amount.

She asserted that the loan DTB lent Bayusuf Limited was repaid on June 30, 2011, and there was an extra Sh17 million.

This followed an auction of the first property that the couple had used to secure the loan for their company.

Islam claimed that the lender is holding back on crucial documents that would affirm her story that Bayusuf does not owe DTB a coin.

On the other hand, in a nutshell, DTB replied that there was consent between it and Islam on July 17, 2021, when it released all the documents, including the details of the accounts at the centre of the dispute.

The lender said that its case against Islam was backed by an independent report by the Interest Rates Advisory Centre (IRAC) confirming that Bayusuf owes it the amount.

DTB asserted that the request for the documents was a fishing expedition.

Islam’s story with DTB started with a loan issued to Bayusuf Limited. The battle shifted from civil to criminal court with Islam insisting on full disclosure of the accounts.

From the exchanges between her lawyers and Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the regulator claims that it got stuck along the way as the bank did not reveal full information about how Bayusuf ended up with such a huge loan.