Nigeria has taken legal action against American banking and financial service group, JP Morgan Chase, in a London court, claiming over $1.7 billion in damages following its participation in the disputed 2011 Malabo oil deal, as the hearing commenced earlier today.
The civil suit which was filed at the British courts in 2017, is in relation to the $1.3 billion acquisition of an oil block prospecting licence OPL 245 by oil majors, Shell and Eni, which has also been at the centre of the ongoing legal battle in Milan and the UK.
The Federal Government had earlier accused JP Morgan of gross negligence in its decision to transfer funds paid by Shell and Eni into an escrow account to a company controlled by Nigeria’s former Minister for Petroleum, Dan Etete, instead of paying into a government account and without conducting sufficient due diligence.
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According to Reuters, the damages being sought for by Nigeria include the estimated $875 million paid in 3 instalments in Etete’s Malabu Oil account, plus interest, taking the total to over $1.7 billion, with the Federal Government asking JP Morgan to make these transfers as part of the oilfield sale.
A Nigerian spokesman said that JP Morgan was on clear notice that the payments put its customer, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at risk of being defrauded which was what, indeed, happened. (Nairametrics)
