Quinn Emanuel loses to African government over fake documents

A recent ruling by a London court judge in the Process & Industrial Development Ltd. (P&ID) gas pipeline case is particularly noteworthy.

Quinn Emanuel bị thua Chính phủ một nước châu Phi do dùng giấy tờ giả - Ảnh 1. — Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), a small business incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, to build a state-of-the-art gas processing plant in southeastern Nigeria

A judge in London has ruled that a contract between Nigeria and a little-known energy company was a fraudulent deal.

This is a new discovery in a years-long lawsuit that has left Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, facing a fine of up to $11 billion.

In 2017, an arbitration court ordered Nigeria to pay energy company Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) $6.6 billion after the contract between the two parties was canceled, a compensation amount that has increased with interest to $11 billion.

On Monday (23/10), the judge hearing the appeal at a court in London said the judgments were "obtained by fraud" and "the manner in which they were made was contrary to public policy".

In 2010, P&ID won a contract to operate a natural gas processing plant, but the Nigerian government failed to build a pipeline to supply gas to the plant. P&ID filed a lawsuit in 2012 alleging breach of contract.

Five years later, a three-arbitrator panel in London ruled that Nigeria should pay $6.6 billion, which P&ID claimed was the full value of the losses it suffered on the project.

This is one of the largest known reparations claims against a single country.

The court has yet to make a final decision on the legal consequences of Nigeria's victory. Sir Robin Knowles, the judge in the case, said he wanted to hear more from both sides before deciding whether to set aside the original judgment or proceed with the trial.

Nigeria's chances of overturning the original ruling were initially considered slim, with its lawyers repeatedly missing deadlines to file appeals. But in 2020, Mr. Ross Cranston, a judge at London's High Court, gave them more time to prove corruption allegations in the case.

He found that there were indications that Michael Quinn, one of the founders of P&ID, had made "false statements to the court" to "emphasize that P&ID was a legitimate business and was able and willing to perform the contract".

The size of the award against Nigeria has highlighted the role of London-based arbitration courts in resolving multi-billion dollar disputes. Monday’s ruling has highlighted concerns about the widespread use of arbitration, a secretive process, to resolve such high-profile cases.

“The facts and circumstances of this case are a unique but very real one, providing an opportunity to consider whether an arbitral tribunal, which is of outstanding importance and value in the world , needs to be given more attention when the stakes are so great and when a country is involved,” Knowles said.

A Nigerian government spokesman described the ruling as a "historic victory" for the country.

“The blatant fraud perpetrated by P&ID has finally been exposed for all to see, despite their persistent efforts to thwart the passage of justice. Let this be a lesson to any party that seeks to defraud the Nigerian people for their own benefit,” said a representative of the Nigerian government.

Nigeria believes that this ruling will draw a clear line in the sand, ensuring that any party that believes African countries are easy targets for exploitation will be forced to think again.

A lawyer for P&ID said the company was "considering the steps it can take" following the ruling. Nick Marsh, a lawyer at Quinn Emanuel Law Offices, who is representing P&ID, said: "While P&ID fully respects the judgment of the English Court, they are of course disappointed with the outcome."

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