A court in Nairobi has ordered the assets of Bluebird Aviation (Kenya) (BBZ, Nairobi Wilson) frozen pending the outcome of a case in which one of the airline's four shareholders claims to have been defrauded by the other three.
Kenya's Capital FM says court documents state the three co-directors - Hussein Ahmed Farah, Hussein Unshur Mohamed, and Mohamed Abdikadir Adan - have been barred from transacting with the firm's real estate, two bank accounts held with the Commercial Bank of Africa and any of the aircraft owned or leased by Bluebird Aviation Ltd.
"In the event that the defendants need to make any necessary payments on behalf of Bluebird Aviation Ltd, they are forbidden from doing so without prior leave of the court," Commercial Court Judge Farah Amin said in a brief ruling.
Yusuf Abdi Adan, who owns a 25% stake in the carrier, claims the three other shareholders have used parallel financial systems to fraudulently misappropriate between USD750 million and USD1 billion since the firm started operations back in 1992.
Aden is also seeking to either have the airline wound up or have the other three shareholders buy him out. An offer of USD30 million was reportedly rejected as arbitrary and undervalued.
