By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Investors in the Starcomms Plc year 2008 Private Placement (PP) considered as one of the highest fraud ever committed in the Nigerian Capital Market (NCM) has sued Starcomms Plc, Issuers to the Offer before a Lagos High Court www.investadvocateng.com can authoritatively Report.

Others sued over the 2008 Starcomms Placement include, Chapel Hill Advisory Partner Limited and Stanbic IBTC Bank; both Issuing Houses.

Also, there are strong indications that the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited for questioning these two Banks as well as Fidelity Bank, First Registrars Limited, Registrars to the Offer and the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) over their alleged roles in the Starcomms 2008 Placement.

This followed a Petition to the Chairman of the EFCC by a prominent Nigerian citizen (name withheld) who took part in the Placement and parted with N500 million; but was not allotted shares.

Paragraph one of the Petition dated June 12 2012 and made available to www.investadvocateng.com reads thus: “I bring this Petition as a responsible senior citizen of this country, and sadly, also as a victim of this high level fraud”.

Parts of the Petition reads: “Their breach of all the relevant laws and the sale of the shares to hundreds of unauthorised persons ultimately led to the collapse of the value of the shares as the shares are now practically worthless. The ultimate losers are legal investors like myself, all of those who were scammed (in billions of naira) and the Nigerian economy.

Starcomms Plc has recently declared an annual loss of over N17 billion (Seventeen Billion Naira Only). When this is added to the purported N64 billion raised from Nigerians in 2008 (in addition to the losses declared by the company in 2009 and 2010), the size of the financial crime committed against this country is brought into clearer focus” the Petition reads.

The suit number: FHC/L/CS/691/12 dated June 22, 2012, is between Plaintiffs names (withheld) filed a class action lawsuit against Starcomms and other Active Participants those suing and on behalf of all members of the class of persons who took part in the Starcomms year 2008 Private Placement by depositing money in the Transaction Accounts furnished in the Placement Memorandum, but whose applications for shares was not approved by the SEC.

www.investadvocateng.com can report that Nigeria’s SEC only approved 43 allottees to the Starcomms 2008 Private Placement.

The plaintiffs who are representing several complainants that completed forms on-line seeking to be joined in the suit, want the Judge to grant N1 billion general, and another N10 billion in exemplary/punitive damages.

Also, the plaintiffs are seeking a post-judgment interest on judgment sums at 10 percent (10%) Per Annum (PA) from the date of judgment until payment.

The Plaintiffs also seek the Court to declare that the Placement was actually a Public Offer (PO), and that the Defendants should immediately refund all monies collected from the Plaintiffs with interest at the rate of 21% from the date of deposit as shown in the Statements of the Receiving Banks to the Placement.

Last Tuesday, Maan Lababidi, the Chairman of Starcomms Plc was detained by officials of the EFCC in its Lagos office and was released on Wednesday after questioning.

The detention came on the heels of petitions by a Prominent Nigerian Investors in respect of the Starcomms year 2008 Placement.