Lekoil Limited seeks refund of $450,000 after loan scam involving Qatar firm

Lekoil Limited has announced it plans to recover the fund it paid Seawave Invest Limited for facilitating its loan agreement with Qatar Investment Authority, which turned out to be a scam.

Lekoil Limited had paid $450,000 to the consultant for initiating the meeting with representatives of the Qatar firm.

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Lekoil to review its guidelines: The Nigerian oil company said its board of directors were taking steps to recover the fund after the loan agreement fell through. Due to the situation, Lekoil Limited said it was reviewing its internal corporate governance guidelines as it relates to review and approval of major transactions, and intends to implement suggested changes.

This follows an investigation into the loan agreement. Nairametrics had reported that Lekoil Limited secured a $184 million loan agreement from the Qatar Investment Authority but the Qatar firm denied the report, stating it did not have knowledge of the loan deal.

Lekoil going back for its money: According to Qatar Investment Authority, none of its representatives met with Lekoil Limited. This led to the Nigerian oil firm requesting for its shares to be suspended on the London Stock Exchange. Lekoil Limited had promised to investigate the scam, and now, its focus is on getting back the fund it paid to facilitate the deal.

[READ MORE: Loan scam: Lekoil Limited seals payment extension deal to prevent losing oilfield)

The board said the company had begun steps “to recover the $450,000 paid to Seawave, including the issuance of pre-action letter of demand against Seawave and its principals, Mr Bismarck Abrafi and Mr Said Memene; and Mr Rilk Dacleu Idrac, the purported representative of the QIA,” Punch quoted in a report.

The decision was taken after recommendation from the independent committee that probed the matter. The independent committee was supported by legal counsel, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and Kroll Associates UK Limited, which acted as third-party forensic investigators.

The committee stated that the loan agreement was part of a fraud planned against the company and no individual from Lekoil Limited was involved as findings showed that “The facility agreement and the sums to be received by Lekoil pursuant to it are not legally binding. There is no evidence of any complicity of any Lekoil director or employee in the fraud.”