Court Grants Permission To Serve Processes On Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETI)Abroad

The stage may have been set for a showdown between Ecobank
Transnational Inc (ETI) and one of its former senior executives,
Moyo Kamgaing, as the National Industrial Court sitting Lagos, has
ordered him to serve court processes on the organisation (ETI) at
its head office in Lomé, Togo.

Justice Elizabeth Ama Oji granted the application while ruling
on the preliminary objection filed by ETI to challenge the service
of the court processes on it in Lome by courier.

ETI terminated the employment of Kamgaing with effect from
October 1, 2020, allegedly on economic grounds, to end ETI’s
Investment Bank (IB) as a stand-alone unit.

In a Complaint and Statement of Facts filed against ETI and its
subsidiary, Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) on December 11,
2020, Kamgaing alleged that he was fired for raising or refusing to
condone inappropriate and possibly criminal transactions at various
times, notably in the Securities, Wealth and Asset Management
(SWAM) business in 2020 in Cote d’Ivoire.

Kamgaing joined ETI, the Lome-based holding company of the
Ecobank Group in February 2014, as Managing Director of EDC (a Lomé
subsidiary of ETI housing IB and SWAM) and as Group Head of IB.

He started in Accra and was seconded to EDC Nigeria in November
2016, but remained an ETI staff.

Until the termination of his contract as Group Head of IB,
Kamgaing was managing 12 front office staff based in EDC vehicles
in Abidjan, Accra, Lagos, Douala, and Nairobi.

In his witness statement, Kamgaing said he joined Ecobank, like
many Africans attracted to its mission, to contribute with his then
28-year experience to building a world class bank.

IB was one of six products within the Corporate and Investment
Bank (CIB). What he found was very different from ETI’s
mission.

As MD of EDC, Kamgaing had a unique view of SWAM. In 2016, SWAM
lost $95million on a Ponzi scheme in Ghana due to poor
controls.

These had been identified in a 2012 audit, but were left
un-remedied, causing the largest single operational loss in the
history of ETI.

Kamgaing said a business with $3million in revenues that lost
$95million should be closed.

But the ETI CEO, Ade Ayeyemi, chose to keep it, bailed out SWAM
and absolved the business head, Paul-Harry Aithnard.

Kamgaing asserted that an intentional campaign by his supervisor
and Head of CIB, Amin Manekia, ensued to undermine IB and his
professional competence by (a) misrepresenting the cost structure
of the business, (b) allowing an erosion of revenues internally and
externally, (c) failing to apply bank policy on bonuses and causing
staff exits, and (d) manipulating the appraisal process to
underscore his performance ratings.
In October 2019, an audit uncovered that unapproved loans of
$30million had been granted in Abidjan from 2015 using client
funds.

After an inquiry, Mike Coffi (Head of SWAM since 2018) was fired
in April 2020.

Manekia announced that the file was closed, without further
forensic investigation, in a clear attempt to whitewash.

Kamgaing sent an email on April 17, 2020 to Amin Manekia
explaining that the incident was foreseeable, and invoking his
supervisory responsibility.

The reaction was swift. On April 23, 2020, Ayeyemi, the CEO,
called Kamgaing to say that he would close IB, and Kamgaing would
be terminated.

Ayeyemi made various threats, and referred to the aforesaid
email of 17 April 16, 2020.

Kamgaing insisted at an EDC Board meeting in May 2020 that a
culture of impunity had been allowed to foster in SWAM for many
years.

One year later IB was not closed, its planned closure being
merely the excuse which Ayeyemi used to explain his decision to
terminate Kamgaing.

Meanwhile, the market regulator, Conseil Regional de l’Epargne
Publique et des Marches Financiers (CREPMF) has now issued a ruling
that vindicated Kamgaing.

In January 2021, CREPMF banned Mike Coffi from the industry for
10 years and ordered the immediate resignation of Aithnard as
Chairman of SWAM entities.

New client claims have also emerged. This has led the ETI Board
to launch a long overdue forensic by the London-based Kroll
Associates.

In response to Kamgaing’s claim, EDC has not filed a defence,
but ETI has filed a preliminary objection in which it challenges
service on it in Lome by courier and also contends that the claim
should have been brought in the Togolese courts, although Kamgaing
worked in his last four years in Nigeria, employed by EDC
Nigeria.

The hearing of ETI’s preliminary objection and the report of
service of the court papers on it, pursuant to the order of the
court, have been fixed for June, 23 2021.

The stage may have been set for a showdown between Ecobank
Transnational Inc (ETI) and one of its former senior executives,
Moyo Kamgaing, as the National Industrial Court sitting Lagos, has
ordered him to serve court processes on the organisation (ETI) at
its head office in Lomé, Togo.

Justice Elizabeth Ama Oji granted the application while ruling
on the preliminary objection filed by ETI to challenge the service
of the court processes on it in Lome by courier.

ETI terminated the employment of Kamgaing with effect from
October 1, 2020, allegedly on economic grounds, to end ETI’s
Investment Bank (IB) as a stand-alone unit.

In a Complaint and Statement of Facts filed against ETI and its
subsidiary, Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) on December 11,
2020, Kamgaing alleged that he was fired for raising or refusing to
condone inappropriate and possibly criminal transactions at various
times, notably in the Securities, Wealth and Asset Management
(SWAM) business in 2020 in Cote d’Ivoire.

Kamgaing joined ETI, the Lome-based holding company of the
Ecobank Group in February 2014, as Managing Director of EDC (a Lomé
subsidiary of ETI housing IB and SWAM) and as Group Head of IB.

He started in Accra and was seconded to EDC Nigeria in November
2016, but remained an ETI staff.

Until the termination of his contract as Group Head of IB,
Kamgaing was managing 12 front office staff based in EDC vehicles
in Abidjan, Accra, Lagos, Douala, and Nairobi.

In his witness statement, Kamgaing said he joined Ecobank, like
many Africans attracted to its mission, to contribute with his then
28-year experience to building a world class bank.

IB was one of six products within the Corporate and Investment
Bank (CIB). What he found was very different from ETI’s
mission.

As MD of EDC, Kamgaing had a unique view of SWAM. In 2016, SWAM
lost $95million on a Ponzi scheme in Ghana due to poor
controls.

These had been identified in a 2012 audit, but were left
un-remedied, causing the largest single operational loss in the
history of ETI.

Kamgaing said a business with $3million in revenues that lost
$95million should be closed.

But the ETI CEO, Ade Ayeyemi, chose to keep it, bailed out SWAM
and absolved the business head, Paul-Harry Aithnard.

Kamgaing asserted that an intentional campaign by his supervisor
and Head of CIB, Amin Manekia, ensued to undermine IB and his
professional competence by (a) misrepresenting the cost structure
of the business, (b) allowing an erosion of revenues internally and
externally, (c) failing to apply bank policy on bonuses and causing
staff exits, and (d) manipulating the appraisal process to
underscore his performance ratings.
In October 2019, an audit uncovered that unapproved loans of
$30million had been granted in Abidjan from 2015 using client
funds.

After an inquiry, Mike Coffi (Head of SWAM since 2018) was fired
in April 2020.

Manekia announced that the file was closed, without further
forensic investigation, in a clear attempt to whitewash.

Kamgaing sent an email on April 17, 2020 to Amin Manekia
explaining that the incident was foreseeable, and invoking his
supervisory responsibility.

The reaction was swift. On April 23, 2020, Ayeyemi, the CEO,
called Kamgaing to say that he would close IB, and Kamgaing would
be terminated.

Ayeyemi made various threats, and referred to the aforesaid
email of 17 April 16, 2020.

Kamgaing insisted at an EDC Board meeting in May 2020 that a
culture of impunity had been allowed to foster in SWAM for many
years.

One year later IB was not closed, its planned closure being
merely the excuse which Ayeyemi used to explain his decision to
terminate Kamgaing.

Meanwhile, the market regulator, Conseil Regional de l’Epargne
Publique et des Marches Financiers (CREPMF) has now issued a ruling
that vindicated Kamgaing.

In January 2021, CREPMF banned Mike Coffi from the industry for
10 years and ordered the immediate resignation of Aithnard as
Chairman of SWAM entities.

New client claims have also emerged. This has led the ETI Board
to launch a long overdue forensic by the London-based Kroll
Associates.

In response to Kamgaing’s claim, EDC has not filed a defence,
but ETI has filed a preliminary objection in which it challenges
service on it in Lome by courier and also contends that the claim
should have been brought in the Togolese courts, although Kamgaing
worked in his last four years in Nigeria, employed by EDC
Nigeria.

The hearing of ETI’s preliminary objection and the report of
service of the court papers on it, pursuant to the order of the
court, have been fixed for June, 23 2021.