The death of respected businessman Abdulkarim Popat on March 2, 2013 brought to the fore the bad blood between father and his second born son Alnashir Popat. The family patriarch had a long standing grudge with his son and this was evidenced when he left him out of his multi-billion empire.
This resulted in a protracted legal case that ended in the Court of Appeal as Alnashir fought to be included in the will. His wish was granted with the Appellate Court faulting the High Court judge Mugure Thande stating that she admitted to “speculating about the reasons why the appellant was left out of the will. Judges do not surmise, they do not speculate. They are guided by the law and evidence before them,” the judges said in part.
Ruling in favor of Alnashir Popat
The judges noted that Abdulkarim was the source of the family squabbles saying that his son made attempts to make amends with his father “even after feeling discriminated against by his own father, a feeling that he shared with the fourth respondent (Azim who is his brother), the appellant continued to reach out to his father”. They added that Alnashir hoped that the situation would change for the better.
Multi-Billion Empire Left Behind Abdulkarim Popat
His business empire has tentacles spread in eight countries. The man who relocated to Kenya with his father and nine siblings in 1930 was destined for greatness. He started out as a car dealer buying and selling used cars in Nakuru. By 1968 his company- Deluxe Motors-had morphed to the behemoth that is Simba Colt.
Simba Colt
The company growth was tremendous and has had distribution deals with big timers in the motor industry like Renault, Mitsubishi and BMW.
Other business interests owned by the flagship company include:
20th Century Plaza, Simba Transport Solutions, Xylon Motors (Mahindra), Africa Fleet Management Solutions, Avis car rental and Olare Mara Kempinski and Nairobi’s Villa Rosa Kempinski.
The family also owned Imperial Bank that collapsed on October 15, 2015. A total of kes40 billion had been siphoned from the bank according to investigations conducted by US based FTI consulting.
Here is how Abdulkarim distributed his wealth from his eldest son to the youngest.
Adil Popat
Simba Corporation (21.8 million shares)
House in Kanjata Crescent (Kshs100 million)
Muthaiga Home (Kshs250 million)
Land in Mombasa (kshs70 million)
Millgate Limited (Virgin Island)
Penrose Properties (Virgin Island)
DB Suisse Bank account
UBS Equities portfolio (Switzerland)
Thames Water PLC (United Kingdom)
Seagrace Limited (British Columbia)
Belo Video (Portugal)
Rotisur Travel Agency (Portugal)
Popafar Limitada (Portugal)
Kalys Trust (Guernsey)
Alnashir Popat
Imaran Limited (collapsed imperial Bank, Pathcare Kenya, Hitech Cables, Auto Springs & Spares, Cool Extreme).
Tune Hotel Westlands (kshs2.2 billion) co-owned with Tune Hotels malaysia
Downstream Investment Limited
Azim Popat
Simba Corporation (4.3 million shares worth kshs739 million)
Plaza 500 apartment blocks in Canada (kshs1.1 billion)
Simba Motors (57,605 shares worth Kshs81.2 million)
Jameel Popat (Grandson-Azim’s son)
Simba Corporation (1.7 million shares worth kshs295 million)
Simba Motors (23,042 shares worth 32.2 million)
Regal Group in Dubai (Kshs10.3 million)
