AMA Ready To Fight $511m Suit � Hires Expensive American Lawyers

The Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) have indicated their readiness to fight the multi-million dollar suit that has been brought against them by TJGEM, LLC, an American based construction firm in the District Court of Columbia in the US. TJGEM has accused the defendants of using their (plaintiff) intellectual work to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Conti Engineering Corporation, also an American firm for the construction of the Accra sewer system. Pursuant to this, the AMA has hired a high class American legal firm, Dorsey and Whitney LLP, which is based in California to handle the case on their behalf. E-mail message from Dorsey and Whitney LLP to the plaintiff in the case, TJGEM, which was signed by Juan C. Basombrio, a partner in the firm and co-head of International Group, which has been sighted by The Chronicle indicates that the government of Ghana is not ready to settle the case out of court. �My clients, including the Republic of Ghana and AMA, are not interested in exploring settlement�, Bosombrio�s message indicated. Counsel for the plaintiffs, Michael Lasley, Esq. had written to the lawyers of the AMA, requesting for out of court settlement to enable the Exim Bank of the US, which has agreed to finance the project in principle to release the funds for the start of the project. Early this year, TJGEM filed the suit against Ghana, AMA, Dr. Oko Vanderpuiye and Dr. Kwabena Duffour, former Finance Minister, claiming damages in excess of $400 million for misappropriation of TJGEM�s valuable proprietary work product, business plan and sewer redevelopment model, and selection of Conti as the developer on the sewer project proposed by TJGEM. TJGEM claims it lost Developer fees in the sum of $93,750,000, loan finder fees of $11,758,750.00 and out of pocket expenditures and value of professional services in a sum yet to be fully determined but estimated at approximately $300,000.00. �Based on the foregoing, TJGEM seeks compensatory damages in the sum of $105,808,750.00 and punitive damages in the sum of $300,000.000.00 for an aggregate of $405,808,750.00,� TJGEM noted in their suit, of which Ghana has now entered appearance. TJGEM is alleging that on the February 17, 2012, it secured �Letter of Interest� from the Exim Bank to execute Accra Sewer Project and loan application. TJGEM further alleges that on February 19, 2012, TJGEM�s officers informed the Ghana government officials that the Exim Bank had granted TJGEM a �Letter of Interest� and the Bank was interested in approving the loan for the Accra Sewer Project. TJGEM also quoted government officials as saying that they could present the details of the Accra Sewer Project and contract to the President of Ghana and the Minister of Finance, when they came to Washington D.C. in early March 2012. The TJGEM officers subsequently prepared a presentation for the meeting, and made several inquiries concerning how much time they would have to present the details of their proposed contract and their Ghana Sewer Project to the President and Finance Minister. Unfortunately, this meeting with the President of Ghana did not come on as expected. But on March 10, 2012, government officials of the Republic of Ghana signed a �Memorandum of Understanding� with the Conti Engineering Corporation concerning the Accra Sewer Project. TJGEM is however arguing that in March 2012, the Conti Engineering Corporation had no Accra Sewer Project, or loan application with the Exim Bank, and that it is only TJGEM that had a loan application and approved �Letter of Interest� with the Bank � based on their Accra Sewer Project. To the plaintiff therefore, the Ghanaian government officials and the Conti Engineering Corporation entered a �Memorandum of Understanding� based on the TJGEM Business Plan, Work Product, Accra Sewer Project and �Letter of Interest.� In the suit itself TJGEM made series of allegations against the Accra Mayor. The following are some of the allegations which would be determine by the court; A few days later, the Mayor requested the TJGEM team to meet with him in the park grounds of Kwame Nkrumah Circle. Kwame Nkrumah Circle is located in a busy and noisy area of the city. Although it contains park grounds, it is not a park which hosts visitors; thus, the only persons in the park at the time TJGEM�s representatives were there was the Mayor, a few of his aides, and persons who had need to discuss official business with the Mayor or who were petitioning the Mayor for aid, assistance, or support for some project, issue, or privilege. While having a private discussion about the sewer project with the Mayor in Kwame Nkrumah Circle, outside of the presence of his aides and others who were present in the park, the Mayor stated that those public officials who would be involved in the approval process for the sewer project would expect that he would be paid bribes or kickbacks for support of the project and that he would share said bribes and kickbacks with said public officials in order to receive their support for the project. None of the members of the TJGEM team were receptive to his suggestion or intimation that TJGEM must pay bribes and kickbacks in order for TJGEM to be awarded the sewer project contract, but stated emphatically that TJGEM would not be a party to any such corrupt practices, and simply inquired as to any additional information that he may need from TJGEM about the scope and cost of the project as well as the valuable proprietary project work product that had been submitted to him.