Oil Deal: Nigeria loses $2.7b fraud case against JP Morgan

On Tuesday, a UK Court ruled against Nigeria in its $1.7 billion fraud claim against JP Morgan Chase Bank over the transfer of proceeds from the sale of OPL 245 Malabu Oil Deal.

The Judge, Sara Cockerill, held that the FG couldn’t establish that it had been defrauded in the case particularly in the role played by the Bank which was allegedly “grossly negligent” in the manner it transferred the proceeds of funds paid by Shell and Eni into an escrow account controlled by a former oil Minister, Chief Dan Etete.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Government has said that its lawyers are carefully reviewing the court’s ruling to determine its next cause of action. Mr, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, stated at the of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by the President, Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja.

JP Morgan in a statement said that the judgment reflects its commitment to acting with high professional standards in every country it operates in. The bank added that the judgement also shows how “we are prepared to robustly defend our actions and reputation when they are called into question.”