Oil trader IMMS has taken Lebanese bank BankMed to court in the U.S. state of New York, accusing it of failing to return $1 billion of its deposits when requested, according to court documents seen by Reuters.
IMMS Chief Executive Murtaza Lakhani, who trades European, Middle Eastern and Asian oil and oil products, said he would not comment beyond the case, filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Nov. 22.
In a statement on Wednesday, BankMed responded: “The $1 billion deposit is a blocked deposit by instructions of IMMS maturing in about 2 years from now.”
It also said that it had discovered “material breaches of contract and attempts by IMMS to direct funds due to BankMed overseas” between October 30 and November 12, 2019, without providing further details.
“BankMed opposed such attempts by IMMS and took appropriate actions,” it said.
