Housebuilder ordered to pay £2.4m to historic director after family feud

The historic director of a London housebuilder has won a prolonged excellent battle over £2.4m owed to him by the company, which is bustle by his wife’s brothers.

Shafiq Malik is entitled to the associated price after the Court of Allure pushed apart an are attempting by Henley Properties to overturn a old High Court ruling in his favour.

Malik, 55, of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, used to be a director of the housebuilder for Twenty years unless being removed in October 2021 by a shareholders’ decision passed by his brothers-in-law Tariq and Kashif Usmani.

The three directors, who were furthermore shareholders in the company, had made broad loans to Henley Properties, which has labored on heaps of residential schemes in conjunction with a 248-home intention for Notting Hill Genesis in Wembley.

Malik acknowledged no reimbursement phrases were agreed for the debt. When some distance off from his publish he at the moment requested the balance owed to him, which he acknowledged used to be £2,827,795, earlier than issuing excellent court docket cases in January 2022.

Henley Properties did no longer dispute that its historic director used to be in credit but gave a figure of £2,362,152. It furthermore challenged the correct to instant reimbursement, insisting in a solicitor’s letter early closing 12 months that the funds represented “shareholder loans” designed to live in the industry.

In a search observation, Tariq Usmani claimed that the parties agreed they’d “simplest realise the cash when agreed it used to be wished or at an closing sale/winding up of the industry”. A settle came across this used to be no longer supported by proof.

“The dearth of any documentation evidencing the alleged oral settlement is placing,” acknowledged the settle, who ordered Henley Properties to pay Malik £2,362,152 by 23 December 2022.

On the opposite hand, Henley Properties lodged an allure on four grounds, in conjunction with that the settle had did not take word of proof undermining Malik’s case.

The most up-to-date judgement pushed apart the housebuilder’s argument.

“The choice of a settle … that a defendant has no right prospect of efficiently defending a claim is an evaluative decision on the information,” acknowledged Lord Justice Nugee.

“It’s no longer a pure point of law. In these instances I judge we might maybe well merely gentle simplest disturb his conclusion if it used to be one we are tickled used to be no longer delivery to him. I am no longer so tickled as I surely contain already acknowledged, and I would subsequently brush off the allure.”

Henley Properties has been contacted for comment.

Henley Properties’ sister company, Henley Develop, entered administration in April owing collectors £6.7m, after the majority of its workers were build on unpaid proceed in February.