In 1947, 2 brothers, Ramniklal P. Shah and Maganlal Shah immigrated to Kenya.
Maganlal Shah started Nakumatt in Nakuru with his son’s Atulkumar (Atul) and Narshi (deceased).
Ramniklal P. Shah started Kingsway tyres in Nairobi with his sons, Artur, Manish, Sanjay and Monaj.
In 1996, the Shahs bought Middle East Kenya Finance Limited and renamed it to Charterhouse bank. The Ramnikal Shah brothers owned 44% and The Maganlal Shah brothers owned 56%
Charterhouse bank had an asset base of KSh. 4 billion and 10 branches with Eight of the branches located inside Nakumatt stores.
The bank lent Nakumatt Holdings Limited a loan of Kshs 1B which is 25% of its core capital,
At this time, Harun Mwau bought minority shareholding in Nakumatt holdings through Hotnet limited
For the next 6 years, 1998 – 2004, Nakumatt expanded to 60 branches
During the branches expansion, Nakumatt evaded tax payments using Charterhouse bank with over Ksh.60 B in tax evasion over the 6 years
In 2006, Chaterhouse Bank collapsed with billions in unpaid loans and deposits
In 2014, Atul Shah started to divert Nakumatt funds through Redstar International Ltd
Redstar International was supplying home furnishing products to Nakumatt which were branded as Nakumatt Select.
Redstar International was paid to supply Nakumatt select worth Sh380M and Was also paid Sh115M to open a standalone Nakumatt Select store at Village Market
Redstar International Ltd also started Kitchen and Beyond Ltd and East Africa Elevators Ltd
Redstar International Ltd built a high end apartment along General Mathenge road called Carnation Apartments
Redstar International Ltd rebranded Nakumatt select to Home and Beyond Ltd with branch network of 9
By 2016, Nakumatt began experiencing serious cash-flow issues. It was unable to meet its financial obligations to landlords, suppliers, banks and staff.
At this time Harun Mwau sold his shares back to Atul Shah
By the end of 2019, Nakumatt collapsed with accumulated unpaid loans worth Sh.34B from various Banks, Suppliers were owed shs. 20B and staff owed Sh.1B in unpaid salaries.
Atul Shah lost his multi-million four-bedroom home in Lavington to Phillips International Auctioneers over the unpaid bank loans
