United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has asked a Lagos court to send nine people linked to Western Metal Products Co. (WEMPCO) to prison.<\/p>\n
The bank alleges that they forced a court-appointed receiver out of the steel group\u2019s Ogun State factory and the application is the latest step in UBA\u2019s effort to recover N61.45 billion it says the industrial conglomerate owes.<\/p>\n
The committal notice was filed at the Federal High Court and published in The Nation on Tuesday (Oct. 27) under an order allowing service by newspaper.<\/p>\n
It accuses the respondents of \u201cwilful, deliberate and orchestrated disobedience<\/em>\u201d of an April 2 order and asks that they stay in prison until they comply.<\/p>\n Those named are Lewis Shui Noor Tung, Phillip Shui Che Tung, Alhaji M.A. Ola Yusuf, Tung Lawrence Blake, Alli Aare Hadji Tokunbo, Paul Shui Po Tung, Robert Tung, CL Ip and Taiwo Alli. All are listed at 18 Wempco Road, Ogba, Ikeja.<\/p>\n Alli is managing director of Nigerian Enamelware Co. Plc, which is listed on the Nigerian Exchange and is one of the 17 defendant companies. Robert Tung sits on its board.<\/p>\n On April 2, Justice Akintayo Aluko froze up to N61.45 billion of WEMPCO-linked funds across 27 banks and fintechs.<\/p>\n He also appointed Romeo Ese Michael receiver-manager over assets not already pledged under a 2019 credit agreement.<\/p>\n UBA\u2019s affidavit says that after bailiffs handed over the Magboro\/Ibafo plant, the respondents brought in thugs, broke the receiver\u2019s locks and threatened his staff with \u201cserious injury.\u201d<\/p>\n It says they kept running the business and diverting its funds. None of the allegations has been tested in court, and WEMPCO\u2019s response was not immediately available.<\/p>\n The court papers also show failed talks.<\/p>\n On June 22, WEMPCO\u2019s lawyers at SimmonsCooper Partners, led by Dapo Akinosun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked UBA for an urgent meeting. They proposed an interim standstill, a joint reconciliation of the accounts and \u201ca structured framework for repayment.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n UBA\u2019s lawyer, Temilolu Adamolekun, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, replied the next day. He questioned how the same company \u201cdeploying physical violence on ground and resorting to self-help\u201d could ask for dialogue, but agreed to meet.<\/p>\n The two sides met at UBA\u2019s Marina head office on June 26 and agreed a joint inspection of the Magboro site for July 2. WEMPCO and its lawyers did not show up and have since \u201cgone incommunicado,\u201d the affidavit says.<\/p>\n The bank says the plant has stayed under the respondents\u2019 control since then.<\/p>\n MoneyCentral first reported the WEMPCO action on Oct. 16, when UBA won a judgment against Stallion Group using the same receiver.<\/p>\n Justice Akintayo Aluko on April 2 froze up to N61,445,695,993.76 of WEMPCO across 27 banks and fintechs and appointed the receiver-manager.<\/p>\n Under the April 2 order, banks and fintech platforms including Moniepoint, OPay and Kuda must disclose and hold any balances belonging to the defendants. The receiver\u2019s powers also cover two W\u00e4rtsil\u00e4 power generators \u201cwherever they may be found.\u201d<\/p>\n The other defendants include Lagos Oriental Hotel Ltd., United Rolling Mills Ltd., Wempco Steel Mill Co. and Prime Nigeria Tiles Co.<\/p>\n WEMPCO was founded by K.F. Tung, who first came to Nigeria in 1967.<\/p>\n The case tests whether Nigerian court receivers can actually take control of a borrower\u2019s assets. A committal order against WEMPCO\u2019s controlling shareholders would send a strong message to other chronic debtors.<\/p>\n Source: <\/p>\n United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has asked a Lagos court to send nine people linked to Western Metal Products Co. (WEMPCO) to prison. The bank alleges that they forced… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}