The Banque De Commerce Et De Placements SA (BCP) has sued jet fuel trader China Aviation Oil (CAO) over an alleged fraudulent deal with troubled Singapore-based oil trader ZenRock Commodities Trading Pte Ltd.
On July 28, CAO was served with a writ of summons from the Swiss bank, in relation to a letter of credit issued by (BCP) in January on behalf of Zenrock to finance its purchase of about 260,000 barrels +/-5% gasoil 500 ppm from CAO.
Payment of some US$19 million ($26.0 million) was made by BCP to CAO in March after the latter presented documents to confirm that the barrels were uploaded onto a vessel from Malacca, Malaysia in the same month.
In an SGX filing on August 20, BCP alleged that the bills of lading issued for the cargo and shipping documents are false, and that no cargo was shipped or delivered, as per the contract.
CAO has since sought legal advice from law firm Rajah & Tann, and says that the allegations by BCP are “entirely unmeritorious and misconceived”.
Zenrock has previously said in July that it has plans to wind down its business.
Shares in CAO closed 3 cents lower, or 3.4% down, at 86.5 cents on August 20.
