Military equipment broker Gaby Peretz has turned to the US courts to confirm an arbitration award made in his favour in 2017 by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). To do so, he has called on the law firm Kobre & Kim, whose lawyers filed a complaint at the end of January in the District Court of Columbia. A favourable outcome would pave the way for the award to be enforced on American soil, and would make seizures of property or assets belonging to the Guinean state possible.
Peretz launched the same procedure in France last year and in June 2021 won his case before the Paris Court of Appeal (Al, 16/04/21), which confirmed the arbitration without Conakry appealing. Guinea was ordered to pay a settlement of more than €45m to the Israeli businessman. The Guinean authorities were accused of not having settled several contracts signed in January 2011 with Peretz’s company AD Trade Belgium, a subsidiary of AD Consultants (“AD Con”).
These contracts had been concluded a few days after the arrival in power of the now ex-Guinean head of state Alpha Condé, and were for the supply of surveillance and interception equipment, as well as service delivery for the setting up of an intelligence unit for the president’s office.