Business rescue practitioner Sipho Sono ordered to repay Bapo R3m
Court orders him and his company to pay funds to liquidators
Well-known business rescue practitioner and the founder of Opis Advisory, Sipho Sono has been ordered to pay R3-million to the liquidators of Bapo Freight and Logistics .
Opis Advisory and Sono were officially appointed as the business rescue practitioner to oversee the business Bapo Freight and Logistics during the business rescue proceedings.
Bapo Logistics, a company based in Bapong, North West, was in the process of business rescue and had paid the R3-million to Opis Advisory and Sono on behalf two mining companies Western Platinum Refinery and Eastern Platinum Refinery (Lonmin).
The judgment said: “The said payment, which was made on behalf of Bapo Freight by Sono, who was the business rescue practitioner at the time, was purportedly received into the trust account of Opis Advisory or that of Sono on behalf of the third and/or the fourth respondents as a refund of monies advanced to the company in business rescue specifically to assist with the business rescue.”
The court application which was made to the Mahikeng High Court to declare the payment of R3-milion to be void was brought by liquidators Gert de Wet and Caroline Ledwaba, as well as Bapo Freight and Logistics. Western Platinum Refinery and Eastern Platinum Refinery, jointly with Lonmin, opposed the application.
The court, in a judgment handed down on February 27, ruled in favour of the liquidators and Bapo Logistics and ordered Sono and his company to pay back the R3-million plus interest as of June 28, 2019 to the date of the final payment, July 2019, to De Wet and Ledwaba (the liquidators).
“Prior to the winding-up of Bapo Freight, it was in business rescue by virtue of a resolution passed by its board of directors on 30 January 2019.
“Mr Sono was officially appointed as the business rescue practitioner to oversee the business of Bapo Freight during the business rescue proceedings. This Mr Sono did through his company, Opis Advisory,” read the court papers.
The court documents state that 13 days prior to the issue of the order by the Mahikeng High Court for the liquidation, Bapo Logistics paid Sono and his company the money.
“The aforesaid payment of R3-million was therefore made after the presentation of the liquidation application to the registrar of the Mahikeng High Court.
“The parties refer to the third and the fourth respondents collectively as Lonmin and I shall do likewise.”
Sono and his company, Opis Advisory, alongside two mining companies Western Platinum Refinery and Eastern Platinum Refinery (Lonmin) were also ordered to jointly pay the costs of the court application.
Sono and two mining firms were ordered to pay the legal costs