Confidential agreement reached in $100m trial of Kijani Liquidators v NatWest

The trial of Kijani Liquidators v NatWest Bank in Gibraltar has come to an abrupt end after the Parties have reached an agreement on confidential terms.

The proceedings had been expected to last four weeks, with Liquidators Edgar Lavarello and Simon Conway of PWC suing the bank over its alleged role in the dissipation of USD100m of investor funds, which were funnelled through accounts at NatWest, before being transferred out to a subsidiary in Ghana.

Former NatWest relationship manager, Kenneth Finlay had given two days of evidence, admitting he failed to spot the red flags that pointed towards potential fraud, saying “I didn’t have any concerns about the payments at the time.”

The Bank's position was that the Claimant companies were part of a sophisticated and carefully orchestrated fraud, perpetrated by convincing confidence trickers who sought at all times, to conceal the true nature of what was happening. 

Evidence heard

Kenneth Finlay was cross-examined by the Liquidator's lawyer Matthew Morrison KC over two days.

The court heard that he began working at NatWest in January 2012 on a £34,000 salary and a performance-based bonus linked to the size of his portfolio.

In his first appraisal that year, Mr Finlay highlighted how he felt underpaid, that he had exceeded his £90m target, doubled his portfolio and opened the most accounts in that year.  

He confirmed he understood anti-money laundering rules, including the need to monitor complex structures and high-risk jurisdictions like Ghana and Guinea.

Opening of KRL, Ratio Ltd and ALF accounts.

Mr Finlay admitted he opened the accounts despite, what the Claimants allege was a lack of due diligence documents with details about their activities or disclosures about KRL paying commissions. However, he conceded that he would not have expected to see commissions destined for 3^rd parties to be transferred to a Kijani subsidiary company.

Mr Morrison suggested Mr Finlay had been warned by a colleague that the company's director, Richard Fagan, was linked to “a dodgy fund” and that there were concerns too about his co-Director Brian Weal at Ratio Limited (the other company at the centre of the fraud). However, Mr Finlay said, “I wasn’t told this information", adding he was unaware the accounts had previously been rejected by the bank.

Nevertheless, he admitted he agreed to “adjust the paperwork accordingly” when Mr Weal's shares were transferred to Mr Fagan in order to overcome the bank’s objections.

Relationship with Corinthian Trust

The Claimant’s lawyer, Matthew Morrison, questioned Mr Finlay about his relationship with Phil Cartwright, a Director of Corinthian Trust, who had introduced the KRL account to NatWest. Mr Finlay admitted their professional relationship developed into a personal friendship, and they frequently played golf together. He acknowledged that Mr Cartwright was a valuable source of account introductions, but rejected that he was willing to overstep the boundaries of his role at NatWest so that he could build on that relationship.

The Claimants stated that Mr Cartwright and Mr Finlay eventually went to work for Mr Fagan. 

Mr Cartwright was not a party or witness in the proceedings and had not given any evidence.

“To Whom It May Concern” letters.

The court heard that Mr Cartwright twice asked Mr Finlay for a reference letter addressed “To Whom It May Concern” regarding KRL. Mr Finlay obliged, describing KRL as “a valued customer” which received weekly deposits - despite it being just three days since the account was opened. When Mr Morrison suggested the reference was misleading, Mr Finlay replied: “Correct”, admitting the information he’d provided in the letter had been incorrect.

He also stated an anticipated annual revenue of £45m, despite having seen no evidence of this.

Asked if he was aware that such a letter could expose the bank to legal liability, Mr Finlay replied, “Potentially, yes.”

The court heard that a second reference letter reached an unknown third party, who was so concerned he contacted Mr Finlay to verify its authenticity, calling it ‘outside normal banking practice.’ Mr Finlay accepted it was inappropriate, but denied issuing it to strengthen his ties with Mr Cartwright.

Trigger event

Mr Finlay acknowledged that the £2.4m transfer to Ghana a month after the account opened was a significant "trigger event". He accepted that this should have prompted an immediate risk review, a potential reclassification of the account to High Risk, and further scrutiny, especially given the red flags such as the dissipation of funds to an account linked to the KRL Director.

When asked by Mr Morrison whether he agreed such a transfer warranted urgent action, Mr Finlay replied: “I accept this.”

Nevertheless, in his written statement, Mr Finlay claimed he must have received a satisfactory explanation at the time. But when Mr Morrison pointed out there was no documented evidence of this, Mr Finlay responded: “I may have made a phone call.”

Pressed further, Mr Morrison suggested a phone call was not a good enough response, to which Mr Finlay replied: “It does not seem sufficient.”

Complex structures

Mr Finlay acknowledged that the ALF account, his sixth-largest depositor, was among the most valuable in his portfolio. He also accepted that he was aware that the companies were structured across multiple jurisdictions in a complex manner and with no clear rationale. Mr Morrison suggested this should have been a ‘strong indicator of fraud’ to which Mr Finlay said ‘potentially, yes’.

Mr Finlay admitted he did not understand why the KC Fund required both a Gibraltarian entity and a Ghanaian subsidiary, nor did he know what the fund was doing with investor monies. He further conceded that he made no inquiries to clarify these points.

However, he rejected the suggestion that he facilitated the account openings in order to meet his own targets and to strengthen his relationship with Mr Cartwright.

Mr Finlay accepted that Mr Fagan would have known his intended use for the companies when the accounts were opened, and that the information provided on the application forms misrepresented those intentions. In this regard, he agreed that the account declaration had been "dishonestly made".

While Mr Fagan accepted that the high-risk destinations for the funds had not been disclosed in the opening account documents, he maintained that, at the time, he did not view the transfers as evidence of fraud.  He said, “If I considered there to be a fraud on the account, I would have raised, through the appropriate channels, my suspicions.”

Through their lawyer, Nicholas Medcroft KC, NatWest said it was never on notice of any fraud and denies all liability for the claims. 

Mr Finlay was due to continue being cross-examined on Tuesday morning, however the litigation has now been resolved by agreement between the Parties on confidential terms.

Background

The Kijani fraud case involves substantial sums misappropriated through a complex network of companies.  In February 2025, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar ordered Richard Fagan, former director of Kijani Resources Ltd and Ratio Limited, to pay over £62 million after finding him guilty of fraudulent trading, misfeasance, and intent to defraud creditors. The court heard that he used investor funds to purchase yachts and other luxury items. 

The money was raised through a regulated fund in Mauritius, Kijani Commodity (KC), and channelled through the KRL and Ratio Accounts at NatWest, where they were transferred to other subsidiaries linked to the directors, namely ALF Capital and then to KR Ghana.  The court found investor monies were dissipated through this complex structure of companies, which had no real substance, but served to give the appearance of a legitimate business. 

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Liquidators: Edgar Lavarello and Simon Conway of PwC

Lawyers for Liquidators: Matthew Morrison KC of Serle Court, Dhiraj Nagrani of Triay Lawyers

Lawyers for Nat West: Nicholas Medcroft KC of Fountain Court Chambers, Owen Smith & Gareth Jaffe of TSN

Judge: John Restano KC