IPNews-Monrovia,Liberia-17 June 2018:Jim Thompson, Dundee waterfront Property developer is said to be a legal row with a Liberian partner Hassan Al-Saffar, in a British court.
Thompson and former associate Hassan al-Saffar could lose up to 63 acres of farmland put up as security with Monrovia-based company.
A luxury housing developer is embroiled in a £1.5million cash row with a former associate after a deal turned sour.
In 2006, Hassan al-Saffar lent the sum for 10 years to Jim Thompson, 61, secured against 63 acres of farmland owned by him and wife Fiona, 57.
But now the Thompsons – who made the agreement with Liberian-registered H&H Properties Ltd – are fighting to keep their property amid claims they failed to pay the money back.
The trio are at the center of a case which will be heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Al-Saffar, 64, is managing director of H&H Properties (UK) Ltd and is behind a flats development that is part of Dundee’s £1billion waterfront regeneration.
The Thompsons are directors of North Grange Farming Company in Monifieth, Angus.
The cash was linked to a housing development that failed to get planning permission.
Al-Saffar told people close to the row that his firm and other investors lost in excess of £2million.
A source said: “Al-Saffar is looking for repayment of £1.5million plus interest. The Thompsons are attempting to stop H&H Properties (UK) calling up security – the land at the farm – on the loan.
“Al-Saffar has told Jim Thompson that he is determined to do whatever it takes to have the money repaid.”
Court papers show the case as Jim Thompson and his wife against H&H Properties (UK) Ltd “and others” – which includes H&H Properties Ltd. The case called on Tuesday. A hearing is expected on August 2.
Dundee’s £1billion waterfront site was developed by H&H Properties after lying derelict since 1999. It emerged in 2015 that H&H Properties Ltd, based in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, owned eight houses and flats in Dundee and had ties to Dundee-based H&H Properties (UK).
Al-Saffar’s representative said the Liberian firm ceased trading in the UK in 2007 after the economic downturn and the firm have “no UK assets”, with the company now “dormant”.
He added that the last remaining asset, the loan, was assigned to the Scottish-registered company H&H Properties (UK) Ltd.
He went on: “It should be noted there is no ownership connection between the Liberian company and the Scottish-registered company.”
The Thompsons declined to comment.