Island squatter loses fight with Lexi administrators

A debtor of Lexi Holdings has lost his claim against the collapsed property finance company’s administrators for possession of a former island fortress in the Solent between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.   Mr Justice Briggs ordered that businessman Harmesh Pooni, 42, must vacate No Man’s Land Fort and allow it to be marketed and sold by KPMG.   The Grade-II listed fort had already been converted into a luxury hotel when Pooni bought it for £5m in 2004 using bridging loan finance of £6.5m provided by Lexi.   Pooni subsequently defaulted on the loan and was made bankrupt.   In February 2006, Lexi purportedly sold the fort to Charyn International, a company controlled by Lexi’s boss Shaid Luqman, for £500,000.   When Lexi collapsed in October 2006, owing over £100m, KPMG sought possession of the fort as it alleged that the transfer from Lexi to Charyn had been fraudulent.   The High Court agreed and ordered that the property should be returned to Lexi.   Consequently, Pooni barricaded himself onto the island and claimed that in view of the fraud at Lexi he still owned the property and was entitled to possession.   After a battle in the Portsmouth County Court to evict Pooni, KPMG applied to the high court for possession of the property and sale – the current valuation of the property is between £1m and £2m.   Briggs J, who last year jailed Lexi’s former boss Shaid Luqman for two years for contempt of court, said that Pooni’s claim was “misconceived” and he had “no real prospect” of defending KPMG’s claim for possession and sale.   christian.metcalfe@rbi.co.uk