James Bay Resources announces successful court decision in claims against Mak Mera, Wale Sola Published By: Paul Dada
James Bay Resources Limited (“James Bay” or the “Company”) (CSE:JBR) announced today that it has received the decision of Justice Papageorgiou (the “Decision”) of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, in the claim made by James Bay against Mak Mera Nigeria Limited (“Mak Mera”) and Wale Sola. Under the Decision, James Bay was successful in all claims, and was awarded $405,000 to be repaid by Mak Mera, plus $200,000 in damages for defamation against Mak Mera and Wale Sola, jointly and severally.
James Bay had sued Mak Mera and Wale Sola for a return of amounts advanced pursuant to a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) entered in March, 2011, and subsequently replaced by a letter agreement made February 1, 2012 (the “Agreement”). Justice Papageorgiou ruled that the $300,000 payment under the MOU was never due because James Bay never acquired an interest in OML-11 (an oil and gas property in Nigeria), and that the $165,000 payment due from the Letter Agreement was contingent on TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) approval for James Bay’s change of business, which despite extensive efforts by James Bay to fulfil its obligation to obtain TSXV approval, did not occur. Justice Papageorgiou accepted James Bay’s position that Mak Mera was obligated to repay these funds in the circumstances.
In addition, the Decision found that a July, 2014 letter from Mak Mera, which claimed that James Bay had made false and misleading public filings and defrauded Mak Mera, was defamatory. In the Decision, Justice Papageorgiou determined that Mak Mera and Wale Sola failed to prove the truth of these defamatory allegations, and that the July, 2014 letter was sent by them with malice. The Decision concludes that letter “is extremely misleading and Mr. Sola knew many of the damaging facts set out in the July Letter were not true.” Justice Papageorgiou went on to find that Mak Mera and Wale Sola were not motivated by a desire to protect the integrity of the oil and gas business in Nigeria, but rather by a desire to extract pecuniary benefits from James Bay that they were not entitled to receive.
In rendering the Decision, Justice Papageorgiou found James Bay’s President and CEO, Stephen Shefsky, to be a credible and reliable witness with an impressive CV. By contrast, despite an impressive CV, Justice Papageorgiou found Wale Sola was not credible and reliable as a witness, and Mak Mera’s failure to call its executive Chief Michael Olorunfemi negatively reflected on the overall credibility of their case.
James Bay had made its submissions on a costs award in relation to the Decision. The defendants, Mak Mera and Wale Sola, have served a Notice of Appeal that they intend to appeal the Decision.
