Sunrise Products Limited, a plastics manufacturing company, has filed a lawsuit against NOVA Commercial Bank Limited at the Federal High Court in Lagos, accusing the bank of inflating its indebtedness, imposing unlawful charges, and attempting to enforce non-existent liabilities totaling millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of naira.
Joined as a co-defendant is Emerging Africa Trustees Limited.
Sunrise Products is seeking N10 million in damages and an additional N5 million for legal costs.
In a detailed statement of claim filed by it’s lawyer, Sivbone Edu, Sunrise Products alleged that NOVA Bank manipulated its accounts and issued contradictory debt figures in a calculated attempt to wrongfully extract funds.
The dispute revolves around an Import Finance Facility valued at $1.5 million, granted in February 2020 to support the importation of industrial raw materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene essential for the company’s operations.
The plaintiff asserted that it fully complied with all terms of the facility, providing the required naira cash cover for all Form M transactions and Letters of Credit.
Despite this, NOVA Bank allegedly began issuing “spurious and ever-changing claims” of indebtedness, which were unsupported by the company’s actual transaction records.
Sunrise Products noted that its account showed a total debit turnover of over N4.48 billion and a credit turnover of approximately N4.49 billion, leaving a positive balance of about N14 million as of May 2022, figures that contradict any claim of outstanding debt.
The bank’s alleged claims of indebtedness fluctuated drastically: $1.89 million in April 2022, $420,213.78 in November 2022, $225,781 in January 2023, and over $2 million in August 2023.
By March 2024, the bank reportedly demanded $2.16 million, threatening to debit the company’s accounts or convert naira funds at prevailing exchange rates.
Describing the bank’s actions as “a pattern of inconsistency and financial misrepresentation,” Sunrise Products engaged forensic consultants, Bizancom Support Services, to review its transactions.
The review allegedly revealed discrepancies, including unexplained debits and undocumented charges.
Repeated requests for clarification and supporting documents were reportedly ignored by NOVA Bank.
The matter was escalated to the Sub-Committee on Ethics and Professionalism of the Bankers’ Committee, where Sunrise Products formally petitioned against what it described as illegal and excessive charges.
According to the company, the committee found merit in the complaints, confirming that NOVA Bank had imposed unlawful charges on the account.
Despite this finding, Sunrise Products claimed that NOVA Bank continued to pursue enforcement actions, including attempts to rely on a debenture agreement to assert control over the company’s assets.
The company is now seeking a court declaration that the bank’s claims are inconsistent and contestable.
It also requested that the court restrain the defendants and their agents from enforcing default provisions under the debenture trust deed executed with Emerging Africa Trustees Limited in May 2020.
In addition to restraining enforcement actions, Sunrise Products is seeking N10 million in damages for the alleged misconduct and N5 million for legal costs.
