Gauteng High Court rules against Absa's flawed attachment of funds

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has ruled that Absa Bank’s attachment of a Nedbank account belonging to Panagiotis and Marcia Koutroulis was procedurally flawed because summons was delivered against the wrong address.

During the matter, the Koutroulis family also argued that they depend on the attached funds for daily living expenses, and the judge found they would suffer irreparable harm if the order was not granted.

On May 21, Absa obtained a default judgment against Koutroulis for R668 652 and issued a warrant of execution on June 12. Funds in Koutroulis’s Nedbank account were subsequently attached and paid to the Sheriff of the court, where they remain held in trust.

However, Koutroulis challenged the attachment in an urgent application, arguing that the attachment was unlawful as he had not been given notice before his account was frozen. The court agreed, finding that the Sheriff’s failure to notify Koutroulis rendered the attachment incomplete.

The court found that the original summons was not properly served at the address listed in the suretyship agreement. As a result, the judge found reasonable prospects of success for a rescission application.

The Judge ruled that the funds must be repaid to Koutroulis and suspended the execution of the default judgment pending a rescission application. Koutroulis has 15 days to launch that application, or the relief will lapse.

Costs were reserved as part of the pending rescission application. No punitive costs order was issued against Absa.

IOL