As long-time viewers of the Corpcapital saga will attest, soap operas have a way of limping on long past their sell-by date.

Corpcapital, the bold but not quite so beautiful investment company, decided to shut shop in 2003 after being sucked into a governance wrangle with former director Nic Frangos.

The 6028 Corpcapital shareholders were expecting to be paid a final 12c/share payment later this year, after which the company would be delisted from the JSE. But a new twist means an end to the drama looks as elusive as ever.

The misery is set to drag on, as the company is likely to spend at least part of its remaining R44m in cash on yet another legal fight — this time with trade & industry minister Mandisi Mpahlwa.

Says Corpcapital CEO Benji Liebmann: “But for this intervention, we expected to pay the full 12c/share. However, we just can’t say right now.”

The legal tussle with Mpahlwa relates to a report compiled after inspectors were appointed to probe Frangos’s claims of fraud and improper dealings, dating back to the days when Jeff Liebesman (pictured) ran the show.

Mpahlwa was reluctant to release that report initially, but Corpcapital won a court battle forcing the minister to do so 18 months ago.

Though the report vindicated Corpcapital’s directors, Frangos called it “flawed” and Mpahlwa also expressed reservations.

In recent weeks, state attorneys told Corpcapital that Mpahlwa wanted to appeal against the decision, presumably to clarify the law on whether he had any discretion in releasing private company reports. But the trade & industry minister missed the deadline to appeal.

Now he has to apply for “condonation” of the late appeal.

Liebmann says his company will oppose Mpahlwa. “We’re going to oppose the application for condonation, but we haven’t yet received that application.”

But if the application is about a point of principle, why would the company spend yet more shareholder money on legal claims? “Firstly, it’s a question of costs,” says Liebmann, “and also, if [Mpahlwa] were to succeed, there could be an argument that the inquiry should be reopened.”

This is the last thing Corpcapital would want. Having seemingly put the accusations of poor behaviour behind it, directors like Eric Ellerine (the former chairman), chairman Tom Wixley, Neil Lazarus and Jeff Liebes-man want to get on with their lives.

The upshot for shareholders is that though they will probably still get at least a 9c/share distribution, the last 3c/share depends largely on the lawsuit.

And it’s not only legal costs that are eating into Corpcapital’s bank balance. According to its annual report for the year to August 2007, the board decided to pay Liebmann R1,8m last year. This seems like money for jam, considering the company is on its last legs.

Wixley defends the payment: “It’s a historical thing. A lot of work had to be done in terms of winding up. [Liebmann] was doing a fair bit.” He adds that this is “less than he could have got from alternative employment and we were lucky to have him”.

Wixley and Lazarus were paid R350000 each last year, and director Douglas Brooking R250000. This means that the company paid its four directors R2,75m last year — nearly a tenth of its R34m market capitalisation.

The amounts paid to directors was a key part of Frangos’s allegations.

In 2000, Corpcapital paid its directors R23m in bonuses, partly because it made a profit through revaluing its online gambling arm Cytech from R4,5m to R149m.