Court orders banks not to release funds to Chinmark Group over alleged N20 billion scam

On Tuesday, Justice Kudirat Jose of the Lagos State High Court in Osborne ordered commercial banks in Nigeria not to release funds to Chinmark Group and three others.  

The judge gave the order following allegations of a failed Ponzi scheme levelled against the defendants. According to applicants in the suit, the defendants have failed to pay them outstanding investment and return on investment since December 30, 2021. 

The 4 claimants filed the suit on behalf of themselves and 76 other investors claiming to have been scammed by Chinmark group to the tune of N20 billion. 

The Backstory

In an ex-parte application, the applicants (who had invested in Chinmark Group) instituted a suit against the group, its CEO, his wife, and others. They claimed to have been scammed by the defendants.  

They prayed the court for an order of Mareva injunction restraining all commercial banks in the country from releasing money or assets belonging to Chinmark Group Limited and the others.  

Ruling on the ex-parte application, Justice Kudirat granted the order sought by the claimants and restrained commercial banks from releasing or dealing with monies or assets due to defendants from any bank maintained by them.  

 In the Mareva order granted by the court, the court ordered the banks to freeze the sum of N246,610,000 in the defendant’s accounts.  The sum is the outstanding investments and returns on investments accruing to the applicants from the defendants as of December 30, 2021. 

The judge further ordered all banks holding funds or assets belonging to the defendants to file an affidavit showing the account balance of all the defendants.  

Subsequently the judge also granted the claimants leave to serve all their processes on the defendants at their last known address.  

Though the court granted the order of Mareva injunction, the court refused to grant an order stopping defendants from selling, transferring, and dealing with properties the claimants can trace during the pendency of the suit. According to the court, the claimants did not list any particular property.  

What you should know

• The claimants include: Stephanie Ohuche, Okonkwo Blessing, Oliver Njoku, and Livinus Chinamere
• The defendants include Chinmark Group Ltd, FinAfrica Invest Ltd, the CEO of both companies Ijiomah Marksman Chinedu, and his wife, Marksman Uhunoma.