How did the Houthis take over the Sabafon and Y-telecom companies
In its fifth report, which dealt with the Houthis' control of the telecommunications sector in Yemen, the "Regine Yemen" organization revealed details supported by documents regarding the Houthi takeover of the "SabaFon" and "Y" companies in Sana'a.
The report said that in September 2014, Houthi gunmen stormed Sabafon Company, disrupted a number of broadcasting devices, imposed financial and administrative control on the company, and replaced its management with a temporary one whose mission is to receive resources and dispose of assets and bank accounts at home and abroad, before placing them at the disposal of the Judicial Guard Saleh Mesfer Saleh Al Shaer. Al Shaer is the U.S.- and U.N.-designated major general, judicial custodian of properties and funds owned by Houthis' opponents.
In 2017, the judicial guard appointed his brother, Abdullah Mesfer Al Shaer, as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, who in turn appointed an executive department with new records that the militia used to issue and forge in ministries and state institutions, most notably the Ministry of Industry and Trade, being the competent authority in issuing commercial records.
In September 2019, the Houthis organized a meeting of "the General Assembly" of shareholders in Sabafon Company to legalize the looting of the company.
Then the remaining shareholders of Sabafon Company approved moving to Aden, and starting again with new records.
Houthi nationalization of the Y-Telecom
The Yemeni Y-Telecom Company obtained a license to operate in early 2007, to be the third operator of GSM mobile phone services in Yemen, and it remained in a reeling position due to disagreements between major shareholders until the Houthi militia seized the capital, Sana'a,and took control of state institutions. And the private sector. Y-Telecom was among those companies that were confiscated by the Houthis in the year 2014.
After years of placing it under the Judicial Guard, the Houthis announced in March 2020 the bankruptcy of the Y-Telecom(7) company, with the aim of legalizing its seizure.
After the two companies, "Link in Time Limited" and "Mina Vaz Limited", sued Y-Telecom before the 1st instance Commercial Court in Sana’a, which is under the control of the Houthis, the court published a declaration of the bankruptcy of the Y-Telecom company, alleging its inability to pay its commercial debts in a play to facilitate the process of confiscating the Company, as the two previous companies are affiliated with opponents of the Houthis which were looted by the Houthis in 2014.
Forthwith, the Houthis appointed a certified public accountant to arrange and complete the bankruptcy procedures and to seize the company’s assets, which was followed by the Houthis’ control of the company and the continuation of its work, before it changed its name at the beginning of 2022 to Hudhud-telecom Company, whose ownership was transferred to influential Houthi figures. According to the report.
