13-year-old court case over Dh14m deal takes new twist



ABU DHABI // The Supreme Court has invalidated part of a bank's claim against an oil company in the latest turn in a 13-year-long lawsuit over a multimillion-dollar deal gone bad.
The case dates to 1998 when the oil company, which was operating in the UAE, struck a deal with a buyer from China to provide 30,000 metric tonnes of fuel oil. The unidentified local bank agreed to finance the deal, which had an initial value of US$3.83 million (Dh14m).
But the bank delayed payment, which caused the sale to fall through, so the oil company had to sell the oil off at a below-market price. The loss eventually led to the company's dissolution.
In the Supreme Court ruling, released in documents yesterday, justices held the bank had admitted before a lower court that it had received sufficient guarantees of payment from the company, and therefore its delays in payment were unjustified.
The company lost US$13,500 for each day's delay; the documents did not say how many days were involved.
Documents show the Chinese customer provided a letter of guarantee of US$4.5m to the oil company, which passed the letter to the bank and then found a tanker to ship the oil to China.
The delivery was to be made between September 15 and 20, 1998. But the bank provided the finance required for the oil to be loaded only on September 16.
The Chinese customer terminated the contract due to the delays, the documents say.
Both the company and the bank filed lawsuits. The company demanded US$10m in damages; the bank sought US$3.47m it said it had loaned the oil company, plus nine per cent yearly interest since November 7, 1998.
On June 26, 2000 the Federal Commercial Court rejected the company's lawsuit and ordered it to pay US$3m, plus US$275,055 in interest, to the bank. Both the bank and the company appealed, and the Federal Court of Appeals upheld the earlier verdict, ordering the company to pay an added US$1.7m.
The company appealed to the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the appeals court. The appeals court raised the amount of damages again, to US$12.2m, and upheld the interest penalties.
The company then took the case back to the Supreme Court, which said the lower courts had erred in ignoring the bank's admission it had received sufficient financial guarantees for the value of the purchases.
"Despite admitting before a court, the courts did not examine this defence," Justice Amin al Hajeri wrote in a ruling issued on January 17. "And because the ruling was issued accordingly, the decision is considered erroneous and should be rejected."
The justice sent the case back to the appeals court to be examined by a new panel.
hhassan@thenational.ae

Ireland v Denmark: The last two years

Denmark 1-1 Ireland 

7/06/19, Euro 2020 qualifier 

Denmark 0-0 Ireland

19/11/2018, Nations League

Ireland 0-0 Denmark

13/10/2018, Nations League

Ireland 1 Denmark 5

14/11/2017, World Cup qualifier

Denmark 0-0 Ireland

11/11/2017, World Cup qualifier

 

 

 

THE DETAILS

Kaala

Dir: Pa. Ranjith

Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar  

Rating: 1.5/5 

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fixtures

Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs

Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms

Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles

Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon

Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon

Who are the Sacklers?

The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.

Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. 

It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.

Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".

The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.

Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Trolls World Tour

Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake

Rating: 4 stars

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5