3 days ago
UK lawyer loses bid to overturn misconduct findings over $3 bln windfall
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - A British lawyer who stood to receive up to $3 billion from Nigeria over a collapsed gas project on Tuesday lost a bid to overturn court findings that he acted corruptly out of greed.
Seamus Andrew had represented Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), a little-known British Virgin Islands-based company, in a long-running legal battle with Nigeria that ended in a court victory for Africa's most populous country.
Nigeria had been facing a bill for $11 billion, representing around a third of its foreign exchange reserves, after P&ID won an arbitration case over the collapse of a 2010 gas supply deal.
But London's High Court in 2023 overturned the damages bill after finding that P&ID had paid bribes in connection with the underlying contract and the resulting arbitration.
P&ID had denied paying bribes and accused Nigeria of institutional incompetence. Its application to appeal against the High Court's decision was refused.
The court had also found that P&ID's lawyers, including Andrew, received confidential Nigerian documents during the arbitration, which they knew they were not entitled to see, with a judge describing Andrew's conduct as "indefensible."
Andrew could have received 20% of all proceeds recovered from Nigeria, up to $3 billion of the $11 billion award, after becoming a director of P&ID and acquiring a stake in the company in 2017 following the end of the arbitration.
Andrew applied to the Court of Appeal to overturn the findings against him, arguing that inadequate reasons were given for the criticism and that he was not given proper notice that findings would be made against him.
But his application for permission to appeal was refused, with Judge Julian Flaux ruling on Tuesday that Andrew had brought his application too late and that, in any event, the criticism was adequately reasoned, foreseeable and justified.
"Overall, the finding that Mr Andrew's conduct was indefensible was plainly correct," Flaux added.
Andrew said in a statement: "Although I am disappointed by the outcome of my appeal, I believe that I acted in accordance with my professional duties and I am confident that my position will be vindicated in due course."
