Invest Bank P.S.C v Ahmad Mohammed El-Husseini & Ors
| Judge | Mr Justice Calver |
| Neutral Citation | [2024] EWHC 2976 (Comm) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Court | King's Bench Division |
| Counsel | Smith,Niranjan Venkatesan,Constantine Fraser,Tiffany Scott Kc,Emma Hargreaves,Tim Penny Kc,Marc Delehanty,Frederick Wilmot Smith,Were Unrepresented And |
| Date | 21 November 2024 |
Neutral Citation Number: [2024] EWHC 2976 (Comm)
Case No: CL-2021-000412
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING'S BENCH DIVISION
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
COMMERCIAL COURT
Royal Courts of Justice, Rolls Building
Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL
Date: 21/11/2024
Before :
MR JUSTICE CALVER
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Between :
INVEST BANK P.S.C
Claimant
- and -
(1) AHMAD MOHAMMED EL-HUSSEINI
(2) MOHAMMED AHMAD EL-HUSSEINY
(3) ALEXANDER AHMAD EL-HUSSEINY
(4) ZIAD AHMAD EL-HUSSEINY
(5) RAMZY AHMAD EL-HUSSEINY
(6) JOAN EVA HENRY
(7) VIRTUE TRUSTEES (SWITZERLAND)
A.G.
(8) GLOBAL GREEN DEVELOPMENT
LIMITED
Defendants
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tim Penny KC, Marc Delehanty and Frederick Wilmot-Smith (instructed by PCB Byrne
LLP) for the Claimant
MR JUSTICE CALVER
Approved Judgment
Invest Bank v El-Husseini and others
Niranjan Venkatesan and Constantine Fraser (instructed by Debenhams Ottaway LLP)
for the Second and Sixth Defendants
The Third and Fourth Defendants were unrepresented and appeared in person
Ramzy El-Husseiny (in person) for the Fifth and Eighth Defendants
Tiffany Scott KC and Emma Hargreaves (instructed by Edwin Coe LLP) for the Seventh
Defendant
Hearing dates: 02 - 26 July 2024
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Judgment
This judgment was handed down by the Judge remotely by circulation to the parties'
representatives by email and release to The National Archives. The date and time for
hand-down is deemed to be 10:00 on Thursday 21 November 2024.
MR JUSTICE CALVER
Approved Judgment
Invest Bank v El-Husseini and others
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5
The Parties ...................................................................................................................................... 5
The pleading issue ........................................................................................................................... 7
Relevant legal principles ................................................................................................................. 8
Inference ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Section 423: an allegation of discreditable conduct? .................................................................... 11
The Bank’s case as pleaded in its Particulars of Claim – Category 1 claims ............................... 17
The Freezing Order ........................................................................................................................ 22
The Sheikh Tahnoon amendments ................................................................................................. 24
The Bank’s pleaded Reply to Joan’s Defence ............................................................................... 25
Expert evidence ............................................................................................................................. 33
Conclusion regarding the Bank’s pleaded case ............................................................................ 39
The Bank’s Category 2 claims ...................................................................................................... 39
Adverse inferences ........................................................................................................................ 41
Legal principles ............................................................................................................................ 42
Preliminary objection ................................................................................................................... 42
Merits of the Bank’s case on adverse inference ............................................................................ 43
The witnesses and the contemporaneous documents .................................................................... 48
The transactions and the overarching purpose question ............................................................... 50
The relevant factual events: the documentary and witness evidence before the court .................. 51
1980-1994 ..................................................................................................................................... 51
2008-2015 ..................................................................................................................................... 51
Solvency issues? The Deloitte Report for 2015............................................................................. 55
Table showing Commodore UAE financials, 2012 – 2016 ........................................................... 58
The 2016 Commodore UAE in-house accounts ............................................................................ 59
Conclusions concerning Commodore UAE’s alleged balance sheet insolvency .......................... 60
The liquidity crunch case advanced by the Bank .......................................................................... 60
Summary of my findings of fact concerning Commodore UAE and Tadamun’s overall financial
position between 2016-2018 ......................................................................................................... 67
The relevant factual events from 2016 onwards ........................................................................... 68
Impending tax changes of 6 April 2017 ........................................................................................ 72
Ahmad’s increased urgency in 2017 and his initial intention concerning the transfer of Marquee
shares/9HP/18HP ......................................................................................................................... 75
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