Legal Battle Intensifies: MTN Cameroon Contests Abusive Garnishment of Bank Accounts

The ongoing legal battle between MTN Cameroon and a group of lawyers acting as counsel for four companies in the BESTINVER Group has taken yet another turn. Last Friday, the recused judge rendered four decisions ordering that the banks transfer the attached MTN funds to the Registrar-In-Chief of the Douala Bonanjo court of first instance, who will have a commission of 0.3%. This move has left many wondering about the hasty and dubious nature of the court proceedings.

Since September 2022, MTN Cameroon’s bank accounts have been garnished, in the execution of several non-contentious orders signed by the President of the Douala-Bonanjo Court of First Instance, at the request of the group of lawyers. MTN Cameroon contests the garnishment of its bank accounts, an act it considers abusive, fraudulent, and unacceptable.

The lawyers representing Bestinver claim that Mr. AHMADOU BABA DANPULLO has been robbed of his assets in South Africa by his South African bank, and they seek to recover from South African companies based in Cameroon, an amount of Xaf 259 billion presented as the value of the real estate from which Mr. DANPULLO was allegedly robbed.

MTN Cameroon denies any link to Bestinver, Mr. DANPULLO, or the said South African bank and firmly contests the garnishment of its bank accounts. The company sees the seizure of its accounts as an abusive attempt to access funds that legitimately belong to them.

What is most surprising is how an order can be issued to garnish MTN Cameroon’s bank accounts despite it not being related to Bestinver, Mr. DANPULLO, or the South African Bank. The seizure of MTN Cameroon’s accounts seems like an attempt to substitute the banks to the debtors and raise questions about the judge’s impartiality.

The decisions rendered last Friday against MTN by the recused judge have left many wondering about the hasty, dubious, and greedy nature of the court proceedings. The penalties imposed by the judge on the banks for any delay in transferring the attached funds are staggering, with Afriland facing a penalty of 100 million CFA francs per day of delay, UBA facing a penalty of 50 million CFA francs per day of delay, SCB facing a penalty of 50 million CFA francs per day of delay, and Ecobank facing a penalty of $50 million USD per day late.

The judge’s decision to declare the intervention liquidators of Bestinver South Africa and MTN inadmissible for lack of interest raises further questions about the impartiality of the court. This is MTN’s money, and the judge has substituted the banks to the debtors, creating a paradoxical situation.

As the legal battle between MTN Cameroon and the group of lawyers representing Bestinver continues, many are left wondering about the fairness and impartiality of the court proceedings. The ongoing legal proceedings raise questions about the integrity of the court and the motives behind the garnishment of MTN Cameroon’s bank accounts.