U.S. banking giant, JP Morgan, is being sued by the Federal Republic of Nigeria for $875million (N315 billion) in the London courts over its alleged failure to block payments made from a massive oil deal that is subject to a string of international corruption investigations.
The notorious deal, known as OPL245, involved Shell, Italian oil company ENI, a convicted money launderer and the government of former Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan.
Nigeria alleges 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.
— source premiumtimesng.com