MultiChoice Nigeria to Recover ₦7.9 Billion in Exchange Fraud after Court Ruling

MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, a popular satellite television service, was defrauded in a foreign currency exchange deal. The service provider lost ₦7.9 billion to the deal.

According to Premium Times, the questionable deal involved Akintunde Giwa, a currency exchange dealer, and JNFX Limited, a currency exchange company incorporated in England. Also, it involved Ashay Mervyn, the representative of JNFX and the director at Frontier Financial Technologies.

MultiChoice Nigeria In A Deal With JNFX

Mr. Akintunde, a currency exchange broker, earns a commission by helping clients buy US dollars with the Nigerian Naira.

JNFX, an England-based company, is engaged in foreign exchange and global money-transfer business. Frontier Financial Technologies Limited is a Nigerian-based company, of which Ashay Mervyn is the director.

MultiChoice Nigeria hired JNFX to enable the exchange of naira to dollars for business purposes. Giwa then negotiated with JNFX under numerous MultiChoice agreements to exchange naira for dollars. The agreement went on from early 2021 and ended in September 2021, while Mervyn, a JNFX representative, conducted the dealings with JNFX.

According to the agreement, MultiChoice Nigeria paid ₦7.9 billion to Mr. Giwa through his accounts. He then made payments to JNFX through the accounts provided by Mervyn.

MultiChoice Nigeria: A Victim Of Fraudulent Exchange

MultiChoice Nigeria Limited enunciated that the dollar equivalent is not received in their MultiChoice Africa’s account at Standard Chartered Bank in London. However, the company, JNFX, argued $16.2 million in the dollar has been deposited in the MultiChoice account.

Additionally, JNFX claimed Mervyn lacked the authority to enter into the MultiChoice contract and act as its agent. Giwa asserted that JNFX lacked practical grounds to defend accusations of deceit against Mervyn and is liable for his deception.

The case was brought before Stuart Isaacs, the Deputy Judge of the High Court, in the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales. The judgment was delivered remotely to the parties’ representatives by e-mail and released to the National Archives on 2 April.

Court Rules For JNFX To Settle MultiChoice Nigeria

JNFX went on to argue for a reduction in Giwa’s claimed amount to $8.4 million, almost half of the original amount, due to unacknowledged dollar payments. However, the court concluded that JNFX’s arguments were inadequate to disprove the allegations of deception. It dismissed JNFX’s claims that Mervyn lacked authority, citing evidence of his representation as a senior figure within the company.

The court granted Giwa summary judgment on his claims for ₦7.9 billion in damages and interest. However, the court ruled that the contractual claim against JNFX would go to trial.

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