‘Marshlands didn’t pay for Ultimate shares’

CHARLES MUSONDA writes@SunZambianA WITNESS has testified that Marshlands Consortium has to date not paid any money for shares in Ultimate Insurance Company Limited.Justin Phiri, a former founding shareholder in Ultimate Insurance, said this yesterday in a case Marshlands Consorti-um directors Tobias Hanyimbo Milambo, Nachi Musonda, and Richard Lubemba are facing about 15 counts of forgery.The three are also facing other related charges arising from alleged fraudulent acquisition of 65 percent majority shares in Ultimate Insurance.Mr Phiri told Lusaka Magistrate Alice Walusiku that Marshlands Consortium was supposed to pay K1.3 million for the entire Ultimate Insurance Company Limited but did not fulfil conditions in the share sale and purchase agreement.Evidence before court is that in 2017 Mr Phiri and other previous owners of Ultimate Insurance decided to sell the company after the Ministry of Finance raised share capital requirement for insurance companies from K1 million to K10 million.Later, Ultimate Insurance shareholders pledged their personal assets to meet the requirement while awaiting a buyer of the company.It was at this point that Musonda and Lubemba allegedly brought in Lusaka businessman Chanda Katotobwe as buyer.Afterwards, previous owners of Ultimate Insurance renegotiated with Mr Katotobwe for him to buy the company at K1.5 million and he paid the amount in three instalments.At the point of transferring shares, Musonda allegedly came in again and instructed another previous shareholder in Ultimate Insurance Maybin Silavwe that he had with Mr Katotobwe that shares should be allocated based on values of properties indicated on valuation reports Musonda had submitted to Ultimate Insurance.These are the documents the accused persons are alleged to have forged as values of properties shown on the valua-tion reports are different from the actual values at Ministry of Lands.