Story by Victoria G Wesseh
Court documents obtained by local media in a $1.2M lawsuit filed by businessman George B. Kailondo against Guaranty Trust (GT) Bank (Liberia) Limited reveal allegations of wrongdoings the Nigerian bank.
According to the court records, a meeting took place on April 27, 2021, between Martin Owusu, the Finance Manager of Kailondo Petroleum (KP), and representatives from the bank to reconcile KP’s loan from GT Bank.
During the meeting, it was discovered that a total of $384,255.64 had been received under the Novation Agreement, with $291,047.53 designated as per the agreement and $93,208.00 received from the supply of gas and fuel oil to the bank.
The documents further indicate that $235,830.25 was utilized from the $384,255.64 to settle the outstanding balance on the $250,000 term loan provided to KP on March 14, 2017.
Additionally, $148,425.39 was used to reduce the amount owed under the Novation Agreement, resulting in a remaining outstanding balance of $643,033.72.
Moreover, the court records reveal that $758,481.00 constituted the outstanding balance on the Novation Agreement, which included default interest on arrears. This amount was restructured on June 20, 2018, with payment linked to the supply of gas and fuel oil to the bank.
Furthermore, the court records show that the $235,445.00 reflected in sub-account #201-11605-211 in June 2018 represented default charges and commissions on Letter of Credits, rather than an outstanding balance on the term loan.
KP argued that the sum of $306,644.48 was not accounted for as default interest on the “restructured Time Loan” of $758,481.00, and that the $235,445.00 was not attributed to default charges and commissions on the Letter of Credits.
However, the court records indicate that $20,736.38 was recognized as default interest on the $250,000 time loan arrears.
Furthermore, there was no evidence of an “Offer Letter” for the $2.5 million, along with the accompanying $50,000 commission and $62,500.00.
KP management argued that due to the absence of the Offer Letter, the bank should be held responsible for reversing the debits.
Despite this, KP made a payment of $414,872.40 to the bank as part of its obligation under the Novation Agreement.
KP revealed that following the payment, GT Bank unilaterally increased the outstanding balance to $1.2 million.
According to the company’s documents, GT Bank had withheld over $500,000 from KP since 2015, a discovery made during an audit.
Minutes from a three-day meeting held in May 2021 to reconcile KP’s account with the bank, signed by Martin Owusu of KP, Mohammed Sheriff, Joe Ninneh, and Mohammed Paasewe of GT Bank, acknowledged that “regarding the Time Loan, KP made two payments of $29,000 and $11,000, so the payments made on the Novation Agreement were sent in error to the Time Loan.”
The Liberian businessman and the bank has been in a legal battle for almost two years for “stealing” of over $1 million from his petroleum account.
