Zimbabwe High Court Fines NBS $10,000 for Contempt Over Treasury Bill

The High Court has fined National Building Society (NBS) US$10,000 for contempt after finding that the financial institution wilfully and in bad faith refused to surrender a US$5 million Treasury Bill (TB), despite a court order directing its return. Justice Faith Mushure said NBS consciously decided not to comply with the September 2025 order, instead forming its own view that it did not apply to it and later obtaining a legal opinion that agreed. The judge described the circumstances surrounding the TB as involving documentation "riddled with gaps" and found that NBS had failed to substantiate its claim that it had acquired the security in good faith and for value. The ruling, handed down on September 14 following hearings on March 3 and September 14, 2026, stems from a dispute involving Stratus Capital Partners, NBS, ADC Capital (Private) Limited, the Sheriff of Zimbabwe and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn At the centre of the dispute is a December 23 government-issued TB under number FCTB109620231228C and with a maturity value of US$5 million by December 28, 2026. Mushure described the original transaction as a seemingly straightforward investment that had turned into a multi-million-dollar legal battle. "The applicant must rue the day it decided to trade its TB with the second respondent," she said. "What seemingly looked like a straightforward investment involving a quick disposal of a Treasury Bill at a discounted rate has proved to be a source of frustration and an uphill legal battle for the applicant," Mushure said. In the original case, Stratus secured judgment against ADC Capital in September last year and in the process, terminated the TB sale agreement as well as confirmed its right to retain it. The court ordered ADC Capital and "any persons holding and/or claiming the TB through" it to transfer the security into Stratus' central securities depository account within seven days. The order further empowered the sheriff to sign documents and take whatever steps were necessary to effect the transfer if the TB was not returned. But ADC Capital did not comply. According to the judgment, the company had initially been evasive about the whereabouts of the TB, claiming it had been absorbed into a multi-faceted transaction and later saying the subsequent transaction was too sensitive to disclose in a public document. Stratus then traced the TB to the Shingai Mutumbwa-led NBS. On October 10, 2025, the messenger of the court served the order on NBS and directed it to transfer the TB within 48 hours. NBS initially told the sheriff that it did not hold the TB through ADC Capital or any other party because it had "settled" the security. When pressed for clarification, however, NBS confirmed that it was holding the TB. On October 22, court bailiffs attempted to execute the order against NBS. Still, their returns recorded that the latter had acknowledged holding the instrument and, before claiming ownership, refused to hand or transfer it. Stratus then returned to court and obtained an interim order on November 7, 2025, placing the TB under judicial attachment and preventing its disposal. NBS subsequently argued that it could not be held in contempt because it had not been a party to the original proceedings between Stratus and ADC Capital. It maintained that it had "acquired the TB in its own right and it could not be deprived of the security without being heard", which was totally rejected by the court. Mushure found that the wording of the original order had deliberately been framed broadly because ADC Capital had refused to reveal where the TB was being held. "The object of that paragraph is, in substance, to give or restore possession of the TB to the applicant," she said. "I find that paragraph 4 of the order has an in rem character and it is that provision that the applicant seeks to enforce," Mushure said. Crucially, the judge said, "NBS fell within the class of pers