A judge has dismissed an application in which a company associated with Meru Senator Mithika Linturi's estranged partner Marianne Kitany had sought an order barring him from dealing with the firm's affairs pending the determination of a share sale and Sh530 million bank loan suit.
Barons Estate Ltd, whose director is Collins Kipchumba, Ms Kitany's son, moved to court last year accusing Mr Linturi, through his company Atticon Ltd, of running the affairs of Barons single-handedly to the detriment of other directors and shareholders.
High Court judge Wilfrida Okwany said it was not disputed that Barons signed a deed of guarantee in which it agreed to be guarantor to Atticon to enable it obtain an overdraft facility from a bank.
“My finding is that the plaintiff did note establish that the guarantee was limited to Sh50 million as alleged,” she said.
“No material was placed before this court to show that the applicant’s charged property is in danger of being sold for non-payment of the loans.”
Documents filed in court have laid bare the vast business empire that the couple built before their acrimonious break-up that is now playing out in numerous family and commercial court cases.
At the centre of the commercial dispute is Atticon, a firm that Mr Linturi fully owned before ceding 50 per cent shares to Baron. The ceding of ownership was in exchange for Barons guaranteeing a Sh50 million loan that Mr Linturi intended to borrow at Family Bank.
Mr Linturi was, however, accused of fraudulently kicking out Barons from ownership of Atticon and further increasing the loan secured using the Baron’s property to Sh530 million without the directors consent.
He was also accused of using part of Family Bank loan to build his Runda home and renovate his Kairune Maua, Meru house.
Runda house is at the centre of a separate High Court suit between the senator and Ms Kitany, a former chief of staff at Deputy President William Ruto’s office.
In reply, Mr Linturi said he had never defaulted in the repayment of loans. He admitted that he secured a loan of Sh262.5 million and that there was no intention of selling the company.
The senator said that he applied for an overdraft at Family Bank in 2015 to grant his firm steady cash flow. One of the requirements, he added, was that the overdraft facility be secured by a third party guarantor and that he approached Ms Kitany, whom he describes as a close friend, for some securities through Barons.
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