Abdul Shamji

Abdulhamid Jamal Shamji (December 1932 – 2010), commonly known as Abdul Shamji, was a Ugandan-born businessman active in Britain. After fleeing Uganda during the 1972 expulsion of Asians under Idi Amin, Shamji rebuilt his business interests in Britain through the Gomba group of companies. His holdings came to include interests in property, transport, hotels, manufacturing, and London theatres, including the Mermaid Theatre and the Garrick Theatre.

Shamji became publicly associated with the collapse of Johnson Matthey Bankers in the mid-1980s, when Gomba emerged as one of the bank's major debtors. In 1989, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for perjury after lying about his assets during court proceedings connected to the bank's collapse.

Early life

Shamji was born in Uganda to an Indian family. In a 1987 interview with India Today, Shamji, then 54, said he had left school at 13 to work in the family store in the Ugandan village of Gomba. According to Patrick Radden Keefe, Shamji had built a conglomerate of companies in Uganda before he and his family sought refuge Britain in 1972, after Amin ordered the expulsion of Asians from Uganda.

The group's interests included London theatre properties. The Independent reported in 1993 that Gomba Holdings had owned, at various times, the Duchess Theatre, the Garrick Theatre, part of Wembley Stadium, and the Mermaid Theatre. His links to Conservative Party circles became politically significant after the collapse of Johnson Matthey Bankers in 1984. The bank was rescued by the Bank of England and Shamji was among the bank's major borrowers. A Court of Appeal judgment stated that Shamji and his group owed Johnson Matthey Bankers more than £21 million and that the bank had become increasingly concerned about the state of its security.

In 1985, The Sunday Times reported that Labour MPs planned to focus on loans from Johnson Matthey Bankers to Shamji and described him as a claimed personal friend of Thatcher and Norman Tebbit. In a 1986 House of Commons debate, Labour MP Brian Sedgemore alleged that Shamji had given money through his companies to Conservative Party funds.

Shamji denied wrongdoing in relation to the bank's collapse and told India Today in 1987 that he had become "a convenient excuse" for the bank's failure.