Something of a Shakespearean tragedy involving money, claims of greed and two brothers falling out has played out in the island’s high court.

Shafe Buksh was forced to take his elder broth Habib to court, insisting he did not resign from island-based Apple Properties Ltd as claimed, and that shares in the company were held in trust equally between the two siblings.

Deemster Alan Gough said: ‘Although very much a commercial dispute there is something of a Shakespearean tragedy about this case.

‘Habib and Shafe, having built two businesses together over almost three decades, fall out and, as usual, it is all about money and greed.’

The Deemster found unreservedly that Shafe had proved his case.

He was drawn to the unavoidable conclusion that the defence had been ‘totally manufactured’ by Habib and supported by him and his two sons, Adam and Omar with ‘untrue evidence’.

He concluded: ‘I have never come across a case where defendants supported by family members have colluded to invent a narrative designed solely to defeat a claim and which narrative I find, almost in its entirety, to be false.’

The Deemster said in these ‘remarkable circumstances’ he had no alternative other than to refer his judgment to Attorney General to consider whether the evidence the defendants provided needs to be investigated further.

The dispute has its roots in a driving school business set up in London around 1993, BDS, which traded under the name Britannia Driving School. Shafe contended that he and Habib - whose side of the family changed their surname to Bush - began the business on the basis that it was beneficially owned jointly and equally by them. They had each operated separate taxi businesses in Manchester.

APL was incorporated in the Isle of Man on August 1995 with the aim of acquiring a portfolio of investment properties in south west London.

Shafe maintained BDC and APS were in the equal beneficial ownership of the two brothers and that they ran everything.

Then in July 2020, Habib’s son Omar submitted a form to the IoM Companies Registry stating that Shafe had resigned as a director of APL and Habib had been appointed. Shafe said this was done without his knowledge or consent.

Later that month, Shafe was informed by HSBC Bank that Omar had been made a signatory to the APL bank account and he had been removed. The account balance at that time was just over £460,000.

Habib denied he has ever had any business relationship with Shafe and that APL was his and his alone.

But Deemster Gough branded Habib as ‘an unreliable, indeed dishonest witness’ and said he accepted none of his ‘false’ denials.

‘I would hardly know where to start with Habib’s lies,’ he added.