The Nigerian government has sued U.S. banking giant, JP Morgan, for $875million over its alleged failure to block payments made from a massive oil deal that is subject to a string of international corruption investigations. It quietly issued a civil claim in the High Court in late November, arguing JP Morgan had been “grossly negligent” when it was banker to a previous government.
The claim, which has been sanctioned by Nigeria’s attorney-general, Abubakar Malami (SAN), alleged that JP Morgan did not act “with the reasonable care and skill to be expected of a bank in compliance with the laws of England and Wales” when it authorized enormous payments resulting from an oil deal in 2011.
According to reports, Nigeria alleged that JP Morgan “could and should” have done enough reasonable due diligence to discover the deal involved the “misappropriation” of up to $1.1 billion from state coffers. It is demanding that the bank repay $875 million it paid out to the money launderer, plus interest, and to account for the rest.
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