By Brown Chimezie
The family of deceased staff of an old generation bank has brought the commercial bank under scrutiny for allegedly fraudulently selling their property in a case that has dragged on for over 25 years
Despite losing the court case at the Federal High Court ,Lagos ,against the Estate of its late customer, Adedoyin Ogunde; the bank continues to push for further finance-draining legal tactics, a strategy popularly adopted by some unscrupulous institutions to cover up fraud.
On May 31, 2024 (date of trial court judgment), many Nigerians were shocked to discover what a family had been enduring, paying legal fees, investigation fees, and other associated costs in a prolonged legal dispute with Union Bank Plc Nigeria.
The case revolves around the alleged fraudulent sale of their late patriarch’s property, located at No. 6 Moore Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State (now renamed Gbolahan Mudasairu road, Ikoyi), dating back to 1999.
Despite obtaining a Federal High Court final judgment against the bank for maliciously and fraudulently selling their patriarch’s property at a grossly undervalued price of N60 million, with an award of N112.050 million in damages, the family remains unsatisfied with the outcome and have no choice but to cross appeal Union bank’s appeal.
Union Bank allegedly first filed an appeal after learning the cash sum of the judgment issued by the court would result in refunding the family between N6 billion to N10 billion (after court ordered interest charges are applied). The Bank’s net income in 2023 was less than N65 billion.
According to court documents, the main pillar of the Bank’s legal defence rests on their belief in a technical legal principle called the statute of limitations. The Bank believes the plaintiff didn’t seek legal redress early enough, and so they shouldn’t be able to question the illicit conduct, at least, not in the courts. The High Court dismissed the Bank’s legal arguments, and the family maintains that the property, consisting of four buildings, should not have been sold in its entirety in the first place.
The family’s legal team believes the trial court’s ruling did not adequately address their grievances, as it did not set aside the sale.
In the recent verdict in Lagos High Court case LD/2624/1999, the presiding judge found that Union Bank had fraudulently and recklessly sold the property of its late customer, Ogunde(who incidentally, during his lifetime, was part of Union Bank’s external audit team), despite recovering its debt, after the sale of Block 6A (one of the four buildings).
According to an external auditor with over 30 years banking and accounting experience, with knowledge of the case, the judgment sum awarded by the trial judge, adjusted for pre judgment interest at “CBN rates” brings the Bank’s liability to the Ogunde estate at more than N10 billion.
He also noted the post judgment sum of 10% per annum would mean the bank owes the Ogunde family another approximately N1 billion per annum until the judgment sum, for the fraud, pronounced by the Federal High Court judge is paid by the Bank.
The court further stated that the bank had blatantly and maliciously refused to provide the family with its bank statements at the time of sale (since 1999).
The court faulted the Bank for refusal to obey several court orders to produce the bank statements.
According to the court documents, the Bank’s staff cited frivolous reasons such as an upgrade of its computer system and the age of the statement ( the bank is the oldest bank in Nigeria), as the reason the bank was unable to produce the bank statements in Court and/or, to the Ogunde family since 1999.
The trial court found that the Bank’s representation that “the property could not be partitioned was a misrepresentation, as they themselves went ahead to partition”.
According to trial court records, the bank claimed to have sold to four different individuals: 1) Plot 6A was sold to Cletus Ibeto for N30 million, despite an earlier offer from Minaj Holdings for N50 million. Plot 6A consists of eight luxury four-bedroom flats each and a five-bedroom penthouse with boys’ quarters.
After the sale of Plot 6A to Ibeto, the outstanding amount of about N7 million was fully recovered by the bank with change due to the Ogunde family.
However, the bank claimed to have further sold to three others, but on further investigation, it was found that Plot 6B purchased by Pastor Titus Oladayo Osundina of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is being occupied by Pastor Obrimah, also of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and interestingly a former senior staff member of Union Bank.
The judge stated, “The fact that a property was mortgaged as a single entity and has to be sold as such in a bid to realize a debt does not hold water; it reeks of fraud, collusion, and definitely does not show good faith.”
The judge also noted that the mortgagor was not given access to his account, making it impossible to determine the correct transaction at the time the bank was settling its debt.
The judge held that even if the deceased’s estate had to bear the cost of preparation and perfection of the deed of partition, it could not comprehend why the Bank went ahead to sell Plot 6B, 6C, and 6D after the sale of Plot 6A for N30 million (where it had realized its debt, interest, and costs, and there was still a balance due to the deceased’s estate).
Clearly, the intention was not to realize any outstanding indebtedness, as none existed at that point,the judge said.
Given the slow pace of Nigeria’s justice system, it’s possible that the matter will drag on for years, potentially much further into the adulthood of the family’s children, who were minors at the time of the incident.