Court okays hearing of N5.2bn suit against Chinese over alleged false claims

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja has accepted to commence hearing in a N5.2 billion suit brought against a Chinese, Li Xing, accused of making false claims against his former employer.

Justice F. A Aliyu, sitting in Court 53 of the High Court of the FCT in Apo scheduled a hearing of the case for January 29 next year in the suit marked: CV/4554/2024 filed for the claimant by his lawyer, Eloka Okoye of the firm of Kehinde and Partners LP.

Xing, an ex-employee of Pure Biotech Company Ltd, is accused of making false claims of tax evasion, money laundering and forgery against a fellow Chinese, Mr. Liu Yangxi (the Managing Director of Pure Biotech), who recently fired him for alleged misconduct.

Yangxi stated, in the statement of claim, that Xing, without any justification, maliciously carried out a campaign of calumny against him by sending an email to the FIRS, accusing him of tax evasion and money laundering, among others.

He added that the defendant also published malicious falsehoods against him to companies in which he has interests, with the intention of tarnishing his image and reputation in the minds of those companies.

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Yangxi, who is the claimant, added that the defendant’s letters to agencies like the FIRS, EFCC, Weihai International Economic and Technical Corporation Co. Ltd in China are malicious falsehood targeted at injuring his reputation and “as a vendetta for terminating his (defendant’s) employment with Pure Biotech Company Ltd.

The claimant is praying the court to, among others, order Xing to pay him N5 billion as general damages and N20 million for aggravated/exemplary damages for malicious falsehood.

He also wants the court to declare all the letters written by the defendants again at him to the FIRS, EFCC, and Weihai International, among others, as amounting to malicious falsehood.

Justice Aliyu has fixed January 29 next year for a hearing, before which Xing is expected to file his response.