The Milan
Industries Ltd, owners of Intercontinental Hotels, Lagos have filed N850
billion damages claim against Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
The claim is over wrongful sale of Intercontinental Hotels Lagos.
The firm had
earlier filed a suit against AMCON and Polaris Bank challenging the sale of the
hotel over Milan’s alleged indebtedness to Polaris, following a banking
relationship between them.
AMCON allegedly
acquired Milan’s alleged indebtedness from Polaris, and in a bid to recover the
alleged debt, purportedly sold Intercontinental Hotels – the security for the
loan, to a third party. However, in
December 2022, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, set aside the sale of
Intercontinental Hotels Limited, by AMCON as being unlawful.
The claim is
contained in a suit against AMCON at the Federal High Court Lagos in which
Milan Industries is claiming that as a result of the unlawful sale and takeover
of its hotel, it has suffered an estimated loss of more than N850 billion,
which sum, it is now seeking from AMCON as damages in court.
The firm in its
statement of claim, said “despite lodging an appeal against the judgment of the
Court of Appeal, AMCON in clear abuse of court process, is also attempting to
recover the unsecured part of the debt, which it estimates to be Forty Billion
Two Naira (N42,000,000,000.00 ). Remarkably, at the time the hotel was sold to
the third party, it was valued at N85 billion whereas Milan’s indebtedness
stood at N15 billion only, at most.”
According to Milan Industries:
“To date, AMCON and Polaris have not informed Milan how much the hotel was
purportedly sold for, and whether as a result, the debt is fully liquidated or
not. The directors of Milan Industries Limited are vigorously contesting the
bankruptcy proceeding commenced against them by AMCON.”
As a result, the
directors of Milan Industries have already instructed the law firms of Prof A.
B. Kasunmu L.P, Ahmed Raji & Co., and A. B. Sulu Gambari & Co. to
represent them in court.
“The bankruptcy
proceeding is a grand design by AMCON to divert attention from the monumental
damages they have inflicted on Milan Industries Limited which they, along with
Polaris, must surely pay for”, the firm stated in its statement.
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