A Zambian court has ordered the liquidation of a company owned by Israeli diamond billionaire, Lev Leviev in the height of a protracted dispute with his local partner over an emerald mine.
The Zambian High Court placed Frango Finance Ltd., which owns half of Gemcanton Investments Holdings, in compulsory liquidation after receiving a petition on Feb. 18.
Leviev will contest the order, said his lawyer, Dickson Jere. “We have been served with an order which was issued without hearing my client. We will be going to challenge it in court as Frango is not even a Zambian-registered company.”
Leviev and Abdoulaye Ndiaye became embroiled in legal battles soon after the diamond magnate bought half of what was previously known as the Grizzly Emerald mine from Ndiaye in Zambia’s Copperbelt province in 2015.
The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in Kitwe, which is located in the country’s mining region.