TheCable

Sterling Bank Plc will continue its legal battle with Hotel Excel Limited over a N1.9 billion debt, the bank said on Friday in a press statement by Shina Atilola, group head, strategy & communications.

Sterling had sold part of the debt worth N1,130, 554,652 to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), leaving a balance of N782,381, 474.

The debt was previously owed to Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB), which is now part of Sterling Bank Plc.

But the hotel, which is based in Warri, Delta State, had gone to court to challenge the bank’s action and AMCON’s involvement.

It is also alleging that it had been overcharged by N274 million.

The bank has however refuted the claim of excess charges, alleging that the hotel had resorted to blackmail on the social media instead of allowing the court action to run its course.

It accused the hotel of adopting “guerrilla warfare”.

Hotel Excel said it had made lodgements totalling N2.064 billion and was surprised that Sterling Bank began to inundate it with letters of demand, claiming indebtedness to ETB.

It said Sterling Bank was in the habit of not sending periodic statements and only did so after much pressure.

“From a cursory examination of the two sets of statements of account by forensic investigators, we discovered that they were violently conflicting, contained bloated charges and fraudulent entries in the account,” the hotel said.

Hotel Excel said it had fully liquidated the loan granted but the bank classified the “imaginary debt” as a non-performing loan asset.

Sterling Bank has denied all these allegations.