CITYA.M.
JP Morgan under fire for dubious $1.3bn Nigeria oil deal
LILY RUSSELL-JONES: 20 Feb 2022
A bitter legal dispute between the Nigerian state and banking giant JP Morgan is due to be heard in the UK’s High Court this week.
JP Morgan is being sued by the Nigerian government over allegations it negligently allowed corrupt officials to pilfer more than three quarters of a $1.3bn oil investment, the Telegraph first reported. Court filings reportedly state that JP Morgan should have been aware that the transactions it was asked to perform, transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign bank accounts controlled by Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, were potentially fraudulent.
Court filings seen by the Telegraph claim the transactions should have caused a “reasonable and honest banker to consider that there was a real possibility that the Nigerian state was being defrauded and thus refrain from making payment.”
“International banks have a critical role to play in the global fight against fraud and corruption,” a spokesperson for the Federal Republic of Nigeria told City A.M..
“The FRN is confident that its claim against JPMorgan will succeed, and justice will be delivered for the people of Nigeria,” the spokesperson added.
A contested Nigerian oil field, containing 9bn barrels of crude, is at the heart of the case. In 1998 the former oil minister Etete awarded the licence for the field to his company Malabu Oil and Gas, a firm without assets or employees, for just $20m.
Shell later snapped up the oil field in partnership with Italian company Eni for $1.3bn, the majority of which was sent to Malabu while the Nigerian state holding on to just $208m. The remainder of the money ended up in foreign bank accounts controlled by Etete.
The transactions were facilitated by JP Morgan which is the impetus for the current legal drama. However, the world’s largest investment bank claims it simply followed the instructions of its client, the Nigerian state, which it claims were approved at the time by the Attorney General.
“JP Morgan is confident that it acted appropriately in making these payments, which were authorised by senior representatives of the Nigerian government, and only processed following extensive engagement with law enforcement and other agencies and courts,” a spokesperson told City A.M..
“We will robustly defend against this claim, and trust that the court will fully acquit the firm of any wrongdoing,” the spokesperson added.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
