Stina Wu battles N$24m property bill

Chinese-born business tycoon Stina Wu has been dragged to court for alleged failure to pay N$24 million for properties she agreed to buy from Esmerelda Boa-Hora Manahi, who now also demands N$2.1 million for property rental for 21 months.

Manahi has pleaded with the court to order Wu to vacate the properties and restore them to the state they were found in, claiming large-scale damage that has allegedly led to significant drop in value - roughly N$13 million in total.

In papers filed with the High Court, Manahi alleged that she entered into a sale agreement on 26 October 2018 with Wu, who agreed to purchase her member’s interest in Aquarius Investments.

Wu allegedly agreed to provide Manahi with a property guarantee of N$9.5 million within 40 days and the remaining amount would be paid in monthly instalments of N$104 166. She would be allowed to occupy the properties upon payment of the first instalment.

Manahi said Wu was to pay all municipal rates and taxes from the date of occupation, and that the properties would be transferred into Wu’s name in November 2019 once she had the bank guarantee.

However, Wu has allegedly refused to pay the accrued municipal rates and taxes, and she has not delivered the bank guarantee.

‘Destroyed and ugly’

“Since November 2018 until today, access to the properties has been and still remains in the control of [Wu], as the main gate is chained and locked and Wu has the keys at the reception of the Marigold Hotel.

“Since November 2018, Wu has been using the properties to accommodate some of her employees of the Marigold Hotel, as well as using the properties to park vehicles and construction vehicles and to load and off-load construction material and rubbish.

“The properties have been vandalised and damaged.

“Doors, windows, gates, floors, ceilings, toilets, wires, switches, plugs, sinks, tiles and geysers [are] broken or missing. These properties used to be very nice and now they are destroyed and ugly,” Manahi said.

Below valuation

Mahani’s husband, Rafid Manahi, said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017 and they planned to sell their properties to settle all their outstanding debt and retire overseas, where he could access the best treatment.

He said the properties were evaluated in June 2016, with one worth N$17.7 million and another worth N$15 million.

When Wu approached them in October that year, he believed it was the right time to sell, he said.

“Wu wanted to build an upscale Chinatown and tourism hub, which she later referred to as ‘Gala Square’, which included residential units and high-end shops. After several meetings with Wu at Marigold Hotel, my wife and I were able to agree that [she] would buy both properties for N$24 million – N$12 million per property.

“We were convinced to settle on amounts below valuation because she assured us that settling on the lower amount would facilitate the speedy finalisation of the sale,” he said.

According to him, they were convinced that Wu was serious and eager about buying the properties because she discussed her plans to set up Gala Square with them, showing them brochures, building plans and draft deeds of sale for the residential units.

She allegedly even “offered to give me one of the units” and formed what the couple believed was a “personal friendship” with them.

“She invited my wife and I to the Marigold Hotel several times to attend functions, dinners and her birthday party. Wu also invited us to stay in a complimentary suites at the hotel overnight.”

Cash-flow issues

Rafid said he accompanied his wife to meetings with Wu because of the latter’s ‘pressured cash-flow issues’, and that she never challenged or disputed the purchase price of N$24 million.

He further claimed that Wu signed an acknowledgment of debt as security for payment of N$5 million after the first instalment of N$208 333 on 5 November 2018.

“Wu continued to make due monthly payments of N$208 333 per the deeds sale, but failed to obtain financing within the 40-day period and the sale was to be cancelled. However, [she] begged us for more time.

“In May 2019, she informed us that there were delays in obtaining the financing of N$19 million - she was building hundreds of houses in Rundu and bank guarantees from the buyers of these houses were delayed, coming in slower than expected. She [however] asked my wife to give her permission to start marketing the Gala Square project and to commence re-zoning. In exchange, she agreed that she would not demolish any part of the existing properties prior to registration of the transfer.”

The Mahanis were forced to approach lawyers when it turned out Wu had not paid the municipal rates and taxes, which led to their company being handed over for debt collection by the City of Windhoek.

Wu allegedly paid N$300 000 in April 2021, but no further payments have been made since.

Arrears payments

Wu told the court that she did not breach any agreement, claiming it failed on the Mahanis’ terms. She added that she never concluded a rental agreement with the couple, nor signed an acknowledgment of debt.

“Ever since I entered into the sales agreement, I diligently sought to obtain loan financing from local banks. The time afforded in terms of these two agreements both lapsed and I still had not obtained any loan financing. I was eager to buy the properties. I regularly engaged [Esmerelda] and her husband and updated them on the progress of my financing.

“For a year, I made the agreed monthly instalments of N$5 million, despite [the fact that] by such time, the agreements [had] lapsed,” Wu said.

“During March 2021, Helmsman Group agreed to substitute me as purchaser and [Esmerelda] agreed. Bank guarantees were availed and the transactions were ready to proceed. She frustrated the transactions by insisting upon arrears interest payments. I refused as we agreed that the purchaser would be substituted and did not agree on arrears interest accruing. The transactions failed in consequence.”

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