Nigerian court blocks Shell accounts over alleged oil theft
Kaieteur News -Premium Times – The Federal High Court in Lagos has issued a temporary mareva injunction directing commercial banks to block the accounts of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited.
A mareva injunction is a court order that freezes a party’s assets, pending the determination of a case to which they relate, to prevent them from taking it abroad.
The order was in an attempt to restore the cash equivalent of more than 16 million barrels of crude oil allegedly diverted by the oil giant from AITEO Eastern E&P Company Ltd.
Judge Oluremi Oguntoyinbo granted the order last Wednesday following an ex-parte application whereby AITEO Eastern E&P Company Ltd. are the plaintiff / applicants and SPDC Ltd. is the first defendant.
Joining the suit are Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell Western Supply and Trading Ltd, Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Ltd and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. as second, third, fourth and fifth defendants.
The respondents are the 20 banks where Shell companies operate accounts in Nigeria.
The AITEO application was filed by Kemi Pinheiro, a Senior Advocate in Nigeria, who led six other SANs, including Mike Ozekhome and Dapo Olanipekun.
The judge instructed the 20 banks to “ring-fence any cash, bonds, deposits, all types of negotiable instruments to the value of $ 2.7 billion and pay all Shell companies fixed credit up to the interest-to-account account that generates interest.” in the name of the court’s Chief Registrar. ”
The Registrar of the Court is to “hold the money in trust” until the motion is heard and the motion on notice of an interlocutory injunction filed before it filed by AITEO is decided.
The court prevented the defendants or their agents from presenting to the banks “any mandate or instrument for withdrawing any money and / or funds standing to the credit of any of the defendants’ accounts held / maintained” at any of the named respondent banks. ”
To allow that, the court said the banks must first “earmark $ 1.2 million or its equivalent in any other official currency including but not limited to the naira and / or the pound sterling, which is the barrel worth of the plaintiff’s 1,022,029 crude oil. The value was derived at a rate of $ 79.50 per barrel as stated in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) letter dated 8th day of July, 2020, the court added.
Again, the court ruled that the banks should not allow that without first retaining or ring-fencing the total $ 2.7 billion or its equivalent in any other official currency.
The amount includes $ 799 million which is the amount alleged to have been paid by the plaintiff to the five defendants for the acquisition of the Nembe Creek Trunk Road (NCTL) pipelines and the assets, which $ 389,631,877.76 was allegedly lost by the plaintiff resulting from the leaks in the NCTL and the deteriorated conditions of the NCTL.
The remainder includes $ 578,951,901.99 claimed to have been lost by the plaintiff as a result of the crude / larceny robbery in the NCTL, and $ 933,000,000 allegedly spent on repairing the pipelines and acquiring the equipment including fountain heads, generators and pumps as well as replacing the flow lines within the NCTL.
The Judge further directed the respondent banks to “pay any sums of money standing to the defendants within 48 hours of service of the order” the court into an interest-generating account in the name of Chief The registrar of the court, which is to hold the one in trust.
“Pending the hearing and decision of the motion on notice of an interlocutory injunction, the respondent banks are instructed to seize and / or earmark any cash, bonds, deposits, all types of negotiable or preferred instruments (s) in the deed because of or standing to the amount / credit value of the amounts stated in prayer 1,2,2 and / or 4 above, ”the Judge added.
When the matter arose on Monday, the court was informed that the defendants had filed an application seeking discharge of the order. The Judge adjourned further proceedings until February 24.