A USD $68 million legal claim has been filed against the CEO of Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETI), Jeremy Awori, alongside ETI’s Specialized Resolutions Company (ETISRC), its Managing Director Oladele ‘Dele’ Alabi, and Ecobank Nigeria (ENG) over what legal counsel have termed an “extortion attempt” of a UK-national.
Wilben Trade and its CEO, Marcus Wade, have allegedly been suffering from a campaign of defamation, coercion and abusive legal proceedings in Nigeria for almost two years in an attempt by the defendants for Mr Wade to make an undue payment of over USD $42 million to the bank. The alleged campaign has been led by ETISRC’s Oladele ‘Dele’ Alabi and ENG and has caused significant reputational and financial damage to both Mr Wade and Wilben Trade.
According to legal filings, the reported extortion attempt came after Ecobank Nigeria’s existing customer, Agrico Agbe Limited and associate company Little Rose Trading LLC failed to repay a $42m following an import transaction in 2014. Wilben Trade successfully provided a Letter of Credit facility for the transaction at the bank’s specific request and had no further involvement, continuing to conduct business with EBN until 2020.
Ecobank repeatedly attempted to pursue those directly responsible in court for a number of years unsuccessfully. In March 2022, ETISRC then began unduly pursuing Wilben Trade and Mr Wade through a series of pressure tactics, including filing a report to the Nigerian Police Force claiming that Wilben Trade had stolen USD 42,485,900 from EBN. Wilben Trade contends that these allegations are baseless and were knowingly fabricated by Dele Alabi, and is an example of the ability of powerful individuals to influence state institutions.
Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe SAN, Partner at Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe & Belgore Legal Practitioners, the law firm representing Mr Wade, commented:
“In addition to taking action in Nigeria, our client is pursuing international legal action to address Ecobank’s abusive tactics and repair the ongoing damage caused to our client by Ecobank’s improper use of public institutions to pursue its baseless complaints against our client.
Mr Akangbe further noted:
“Despite repeated appeals for constructive dialogue to address these issues and end the misconduct, Ecobank has refused to engage meaningfully.”
By taking this legal step, Wilben Trade and Marcus Wade, who are based in the UAE, reaffirm their resolve to safeguard their reputation and seek justice for the damages knowingly caused by the defendants by their baseless allegations.
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