GACO says final judgment issued against ex-board member, ownership transfer to Fakih Poultry expected soon

Logo of Al Gassim Investment Holding Co. (GACO)

Al Gassim Investment Holding Co. (GACO) announced that a final judgment has been issued in a case against former board member Abdullah Al-Mahous and former employee Abdul Majeed Al-Shammari.

In a statement to Tadawul, the company said it had previously authorized Al-Mahous to complete the procedures for issuing ownership deeds for agricultural ministerial schemes related to its agricultural project in Al-Jouf region. The owners of the agricultural schemes had issued legal authorizations to Al-Mahous to finalize the procedures and transfer the property to GACO. The company also issued a legal authorization to Al-Shammari to accept the property transfer and finalize the transfer to the buyer, Fakieh Poultry Farms Co., and receive the selling price.

‏However, after obtaining the deed, and without the company’s knowledge, Al-Mahous transferred the property to Al-Shammari, who accepted the transfer in his own name. The transfer should have been made for the company; however, both expressed no objection for the procedure and claimed they found difficulties in finalizing the ownership deeds.

‏GACO, in collaboration with the buyer, Fakieh Poultry, filed a case to claim the ownership of the property, covering an area of two million square meters.

‏On Oct. 31, the Court of Appeal in Qassim issued its final judgment confirming Fakieh Poultry’s ownership of the property. The relevant authorities were ordered to transfer the property to the company, as the court found that the company had legally purchased the property from GACO.

The judgment instrument was received on Nov. 4. The transfer of ownership from Al-Shammari to Fakieh Poultry is expected to be completed in the coming days, with the company paying GACO the agreed sum of SAR 2.04 million, according to data available with Argaam.

Meanwhile, the company noted that Al-Mahous had previously transferred another project property to Al-Shammari, who later transferred it back to him. The Court of Appeal in Qassim ruled that Al-Mahous did not own the property after a lawsuit was initiated against him by GACO and Fakieh Poultry last year.

The company has appointed a third-party lawyer to provide legal consultations and represent it in the legal proceedings.

According to data available with Argaam, GACO said that all legal procedures related to the transfer of the title deed were completed, including enforcement actions and the issuance of the title deed in the name of Fakieh Poultry. The company clarified that it received the agreed amount of SAR 1.84 million from Fakieh Poultry.

Fakieh Poultry filed a lawsuit against Al-Mahous, while the Al-Qassim Court of Appeal issued a final ruling against him in favor of Fakieh Poultry in November 2023. According to GACO's previous announcement, the company expected to receive SAR 1.84 million from Fakieh Poultry once the title deed was transferred to its name.