Tycoon loses $10m lawsuit, faces Zanu PF censure

via Tycoon loses $10m lawsuit, faces Zanu PF censure – DailyNews Live  29 OCTOBER 2013 

Controversial businessman Thamer Al Shanfari has lost his $10 million lawsuit against fellow Omani tycoon Kamal Khalfan for allegedly defaming him in private conversations with unnamed top Zanu PF officials.

This also comes as the Oasis Energy Company founder faces serious censure from authorities for allegedly fleecing investors of millions of dollars in various investment deals that never materialised.

In a recent ruling, High Court judge Joseph Mafusire ordered the self-styled diamond trader to pay the honorary Oman Sultanate consul’s legal fees at the highest lawyer-client scale.

In his 2012 suit, the Arabian businessman had claimed Khalfan had rubbished him before various Zanu PF ministers, especially in relation to his handling of a proposed mining venture by Bulgarian millionaire Blagoy Pishonov.

Amid claims by Al Shanfari that the Catercraft (Private) Limited owner had defamed him by saying he was corrupt and caused his disbarment from participating in the Bul Mining diamond venture, information at hand also shows that he had received quite a substantial amount of money — in facilitation fees — from the eastern European investor.

On the other hand, the Harare businessman has received nearly $3 million from German investor Dietrich Herzog in almost similar circumstances.

While Al Shanfari accuses Khalfan of telling the Zimbabwean immigration authorities that the former was wanted for illegal gold dealing, these issues actually arise in a series of October 2012 letters by one of his aggrieved investors Andrew Taylor of CRNI Holding in Switzerland and which detail the controversial businessman’s dodgy bullion deals with an Indian party.

After hitting the headlines at the turn of the millennium with his Democratic Republic of Congo diamond deals, Al Shanfari was also in the news early last year after a raid on his Glenlorne, Harare pad and where his brothers-in-law Ashrat and Mike Raslan were netted.

Despite being deported at the time, the duo has reportedly resurfaced in the country.

On the other hand, Al Shanfari — who had taken a long retreat from Zimbabwe and returned briefly last week — was unavailable for comment this week.