Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), one of the Middle East's largest construction groups has had 15 key bank accounts frozen by the High Court in London. The accounts are controlled by CCC subsidiaries Consolidated Contractors International Company SAL (CCIC) and Consolidated Contractors Oil & Gas Company SAL (CCOG). The orders, which CCC will challenge in August, extend to bank accounts held in Lebanon, UAE, Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Egypt.
In a further judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 28 July 2008, the court ordered Toufic Khoury, a member of CCC's Board and son of its founder and majority shareholder, Said Khoury, to pay costs of £80,000 to Mr Masri. The appeal court ruled that the court could compel foreign directors to attend court for questioning about the companies' assets - this is likely to lead to the reinstatement of an order compelling Toufic Khoury to attend for questioning.
The freezing orders result from a case brought by Munib Masri, a Palestinian businessman who signed an agreement with CC (Oil & Gas) and CCIC in 1992. The agreement concerned the sharing of revenues from production in the Yemeni Masila oil field, which would net Mr Masri 10% of those revenues. CC (Oil & Gas) and CCIC refused to pay the 10% and Mr Masri was forced to bring a claim for breach of contract.
Mr Masri won in the High Court and the Court of Appeal with CCC's petition to appeal to the House of Lords was dismissed by Law Lords in November 2007. The court has so far ordered CCC to pay Mr Masri over $60 million in amounts due under the agreement. The proceedings have been bitterly contested at every stage and have involved over 50 days of hearings before the English courts.
CCC have instructed three leading firms of lawyers in London, as well as lawyers in Yemen, Greece and Lebanon. However, the last possibility of any appeal of the main English court judgments was removed on 11 July when the House of Lords struck out CCIC's final appeal after CCIC failed to comply with conditions imposed by the court.
Further freezing injunctions have been granted preventing CCIC from disposing of its rights to receive revenues from all its significant construction contracts and preventing the disposal of shares in CCC Energy Nigeria Limited and CC (Oil and Gas) Nigeria Limited, two companies believed to hold CCC's interests in various Nigerian oil concessions.
In April this year CCC failed in its appeal to prevent the appointment by the court of a Receiver to collect CCOG's oil revenues from its lucrative interest in the Masila Oilfield (to which the underlying dispute with Mr Masri relates). Mr Lee Manning, a partner at Deloitte, has been appointed as Receiver.
These latest freezing orders mark another setback to CCC in the long-running dispute over the Yemeni Masila Oilfield concession. In March this year Swiss Courts froze all bank accounts held by CCIC at Bank Audi Suisse SA in Geneva and Arab Bank Switzerland in Zurich. Bank Audi lists CCC's founder and majority shareholder Said Khoury as an Advisor to its Board of Directors and his son Wael Khoury as a Director of its US affiliate Interaudi.
Commenting, Simon Morgan a Partner at international law firm Simmons & Simmons, representing Mr Masri, said:
"Time is running out for CCC. Its attitude in this litigation has been to switch between relying on and ignoring the court's orders as it thinks fit; this is a startling modus operandi for a company of CCC's international standing and is only likely to undermine its business and reputation. The truth is that eventually it will have to comply with the English court's judgments. We will continue to take enforcement action in all relevant jurisdictions until such time as CCC meets its responsibilities, as it has been ordered to do so."
-Ends-
For further information contact:
Richard Elsen
Byfield Consultancy
83-87 Crawford Street
London W1H 2HB
Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 7616 1741
Switchboard: +44 (0) 20 7616 1740
Mobile: +44 (0) 7886 757 307
Please visit our website at www.byfieldconsultancy.com
© Press Release 2008
