By ISSAYAS MEKURIA
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

The First Instant Court passed a verdict on Biniam Assefa, co-founder of Ropak International PLC, to be removed from his position as general manager of the company and compensate his damage to other shareholders on February 28, 2006.

Ropak International PLC was established by three individuals with 50 million Br capital in 1999.

The plaintiff, the company’s two other shareholders, France Logo and David Copper, filed the charge against the former general manager and shareholder of the company a year ago.

Biniam was accused of mishandling his office and for acting against the interest of the company and their memorandum of agreement.

The defendant Biniam owns, in addition to a third of the shares in Ropak International, Ropak Addis, Beverly International and Dessie Agro Industry.

The charges continued, “As Biniam is an Ethiopian residing in the country, we believed that he would be able to monitor the activities of the company and appointed him as general manager. On the contrary, he did the company significant harm.”

The two other shareholders accused Biniam of purposefully establishing a similar company with a similar name to “make profit out of the public’s confusion which affected the interest of the company heavily.”

The charge stated that Biniam “took the sales of Op-Op Instant powdered soft drink, produced by Ropak International in Kaliti, abusing his power as general manager of the company, to his own company Ropak Addis Trading Enterprise. Therefore, he grossed illegal huge profits from our company, and also took the production machine to unknown places without the knowledge of other shareholders.”

They also accused him of “taking machines to produce bricks and corrugated sheets, and we do not know their whereabouts,” from Ropak International, which has been engaged in the real-estate business since 2002.

The real estate company has constructed 300 houses so far on 600,000sqm in Legatafo, 19Km north of Addis Ababa. The agreement was to construct 500 houses on a lease agreement from the Oromia Regional State.

The plaintiffs also accused Biniam of offering a heavy vehicle as collateral which was subsequently seized by Awash International Bank when he defaulted on payments for 250,000 Br he had taken for his own privately registered company. 

“The defendant’s attempt to sell the shares of Ropak International to Dessie Agro Industry PLC, which was established by him with other shareholders, was halted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry officials and by plaintiffs,” according to the charge.

Biniam also owns another company called Beverly International which took a loan from Wegagen Bank and paid the Bank by a Ropak International cheque to the value of 900,000 Br, “which put the company in big financial difficulties,” said the shareholders.

According to the plaintiffs’ charge, “Biniam harmed the company”, and the plaintiffs asked the Court to remove him from his position as he should not continue as general manager of the same company he has abused.

Biniam defended his case stating that Ropak Addis was established before Ropak International, and the Op-Op machine was not owned by Ropak International. The machines were imported by Addis Incorporated, not by Ropak International, he added in his defence.

One of the plaintiffs, David Cooper cannot file a charge against me, said Biniam, “as he is not shareholder of Ropak International.” The Court dismissed this statement as untrue.

Biniam claimed he had full authority over the properties of the companies in the memorandum of agreement as the general manager and so the Court should free him from the charges brought by the other shareholders.

The Court found against Biniam as “he had harmed Ropak International’s interest” and removed him from his position in the company, “according to the commercial law of the country.” It further decided that the defendant should compensate the shareholders. 

“I am happy, even though many things in Ethiopia are delayed, including this litigation. I have finally seen justice and I will continue to invest in the country,” Franco Logo told Fortune.

The defendant, Biniam Assefa, and his lawyer, Delensaw Taddess, were not available for comment.