Coscharis used my assets for loan collateral, Ubah alleges

LAGOS — Negotiation between the Asset Management Company ofNigeria, AMCON, and the Capital Oil and Gas Industries Ltd, over the latter’s indebtedness to banks is being frustrated by some powerful interests, who want to use the opportunity to get at the managing director of the oil marketing company, Ifeanyi Ubah.

 

The development comes, even as it was discovered that the Chairman and CEO of the Coscharis Group, Mr . Cosmas Maduka, used the assets of Ubah as collateral in a tripartite mortgage for N20 billion with Access Bank Plc.

Vanguard gathered, weekend, that AMCON, which was favourably disposed towards reopening the Capital Oil depot, after assessing the facility, weekend, is now soft-pedaling on reopening the facility, which it sealed on November 16, based on a Federal High Court order.

On its assessment of the Capital Oil facility, AMCON had observed that the facility was more than enough to offset whatever indebtedness the company was exposed to.

Ubah confirms report

Confirming the development, Managing Director/CEO, Capital Oil, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, in a telephone conversation with Vanguard yesterday, said: “We are still negotiating with AMCON on the matter, to help us restructure our loans because we still want to run our company.”

He noted that his current anguish is as a result of the fact that the company has not been able to import any product since January this year, due to the crisis associated with the subsidy management between the Federal Government and the oil marketers.

With regard to his face-off with Maduka and Access Bank, Ubah claimed that Maduka had restructured a N20 billion loan he obtained from Access Bank, using his assets as collateral without informing him, which he said was all part of the grand plan to ruin his operations.

He said: “Coscharis is making money using my security. He restructured the loan he took from Access Bank without recourse to Capital Oil, and the bank is charging me illegal interests.”

Maduka reacts

Clarifying on the loan, Maduka, who also spoke with Vanguard on telephone yesterday, admitted he took the loan from Access Bank, but on behalf of Capital Oil.

When it was noted that the Access Bank document, exclusively obtained by Vanguard, on the transaction indicated Coscharis Motors Limited as “The Borrower,” said he borrowed the money on behalf of Capital Oil for petroleum product importation.

He said: “I asked him to guarantee the loan which I took on his behalf, and I made him to sign the guarantor’s form because the LC (Letter of Credit) was opened on behalf of Capital Oil.”

Asked if this was a normal transaction of accessing loans from the banks, Maduka said: “Yes, it is normal,” adding that this was why Ubah was made to sign an offshore agreement inLondonto forfeit the assets if he reneged on the payment of the loan.