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Thursday, 2 April 2015

KING'S COMPANY AT CENTRE OF JET ROW

King Mswati III of Swaziland refused to use a private jet that had been chartered for him at a cost of more than US$1 million because it only had one toilet, papers filed at a court in Canada state.

So, a second aircraft was chartered for him at a cost of US$1.425 million.

The extent of King Mswati’s lavish lifestyle has been revealed in papers deposited at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as part of a business dispute involving a company called Inchatsavane.

Inchatsavane is registered at the King’s Lozitha State Palace and King Mswati is described as ‘sole shareholder / owner’.

Inchatsavane is alleged to owe US$3.5 million for refurbishments made to the King’s private DC-9 jet.

Repairs and modifications were made to the jet at a cost of US$4.123 million before it was delivered to him in 2012. A company called SG Air paid for the work on behalf of Inchatsavane. SG Air expected Inchatsavane to repay it the money but, the court papers state, it did not.

The refurbishment of the jet took longer than expected and King Mswati was without a private plane. 
The court papers state, ‘In an effort to accommodate Inchatsavane and HMK [His Majesty the King], SG Air attended to leasing an alternate aircraft known as CRJ 200 VIP with 16 seats for a six-month contract for $1,050,000.00.’

It added, ‘Around May 2011 Mr. Sihle [Sihle Dlamini, the Director of Administration at the King’s Office and Assistant Private Secretary to the King] advised SG Air that HMK was not satisfied with the CRJ 200 as it only had one toilet on board and was therefore very inconvenient.  HMK rejected the CRJ 200 and accordingly SG Air returned same to Emerald Jets. SG Air therefore attended to locating two replacement aircrafts for Inchatsavane and HMK.’

The company then agreed a ‘replacement lease agreement’ with Prestige for a Legacy 600 aircraft for the period 17 May 2011 to 16 October 16, 2011 for the total cost of $1.425 million.

SG Air also paid $778,000 for flight support services relating to the Legacy 600 aircraft.


The court papers also stated that by November 2014 SG Air had not been repaid and following discussions with the King it was agreed that Inchatsavane would pay US$3.5 million to SG Air as ‘full and final settlement’ of the cost of the refurbishments.

By 16 December 2014 SG Air had not received any funds from Inchatsavane or the King. As a result it obtained a court order in Canada to attach the King’s DC-9 which was in Canada for routine maintenance and the aircraft was impounded. 

The DC-9 remains in Canada under order of the court.

See also

SWAZI KING ‘REFUSED TO PAY JET DEBT’
SWAZI KING’S JET HELD FOR UNPAID DEBTS
‘SWAZI KING TO BUY US$44m PRIVATE JET’

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