Innoson Nigeria Ltd, Innoson Technical and Industrial
Company, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company and Innoson Autoparts
Manufacturing Company have slammed a N30billion lawsuit on Guarantee
Trust Bank (GTB).
PM News reports that the companies
sued GTB for alleged economic misfortune suffered as a result of their
accounts frozen in 15 different banks by means of supposed unjustifiable
court order obtained by GTB.
A statement of claims filed by
Professor MacCarthy Mbadugha, the company’s counsel, at a Federal High
Court in Awka, Anambra, stated the claims of the companies against GTB
as follows:
N20Billion being special damages arising from the
bank’s unlawful freezing of the companies accounts in fifteen banks from
1st of September 2014 to 15th of June 2015.
(ii) N5 billion for reputational and injuring the companies.
(iii) N5Billion as general damages and 22 per cent interest on the sum
claimed till judgement is delivered and same rate till liquidation of
the judgement debt.
The
legal tussle started on 1 September, 2014, when Guaranty Trust Bank Plc
served on Innoson Nigeria Limited a court order dated 1 September,
2014, with suit number FHC/L/CS/1119/2014 filed before a Federal High
Court in Lagos.
The company’s allegedly indebtedness to the sum
of N1.5 billion compelled GBT’s action. The bank claimed the company
diverted the loan and was in the process of dissipating its assets in
order to avoid repaying the loan.
Justice Okon Abang ordered that pending the hearing and the
determination of the substantive suit, all commercial banks in Nigeria
are restrained from accepting, honouring, or giving effect in any manner
whatsoever to any mandate or instruction presented to them by Innoson
Company or any of its agents or nominees for withdrawal of any sum of
money standing to the credit of any account maintained by the company in
all the banks.
As a result, all the companies accounts were frozen and activities of the companies grounded.
The
action resulted in loss of business and profit, deterioration of some
of its raw materials, as they became unfit for use, staff were rendered
redundant whilst they continued to pay salaries, some of the Chinese
expatriates left the company for China while some of them were paid
$66,000 dollars per month for seven months during their redundancy to
avoid heavy cost of searching for expertise of their caliber given their
skills.
On June 10, 2015, Mbadugha argued that the order was
obtained by the bank by suppression, concealment or failure to disclose
material facts before the court to set aside the order.
Justice Saliu Saidu set aside the order and as well as struck out the entire suit freezing the accounts of the plaintiffs.
The
court also ordered that all court processes should be served on
Guaranty Trust bank Plc at its Headquarters at Plot 1669 Oyin Jolayemi
street, Victoria island Lagos.
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