Shipping tycoon sues RBS and Goodwin for £3bn
A TAIWANESE shipping magnate is launching a fresh bid to sue EXRBS boss Fred Goodwin for up to £3 billion for allegedly using his company’s cash to keep the bank afloat before it collapsed.
The claim is believed to be one of the biggest lawsuits ever brought against a British individual.
Nobu Su, the billionaire chairman of Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT), accuses Goodwin – with two former senior colleagues and the bank itself – of “hijacking” TMT’S accounts and using them as “unlimited cash machines”. Between 2007 and 2009, when RBS was on the brink of disaster, the tycoon claims Goodwin “siphoned off” billions of dollars without consent.
The value of TMT’S assets, which included vast fleets of container ships, liquified natural gas (LNG) ships, very large crude (VLCC) tankers and bulk carriers worth up to $500 million each, were also exploited by RBS at a time when its own future was in crisis, he claims.
Su – one of the wealthiest men in Asia at the time – also accuses Goodwin and former senior colleagues Neena Birdie and Marie Chang of insider trading and of manipulating shares worth almost $100m. They are said to have been “negligent in protecting his business interests” and conspired to “injure Mr Su by unlawful means”.
He claims their actions, which almost brought family business TMT to its knees, cost him $3.6bn (£2.5bn).
Mr Su, 59, started legal proceedings in 2014 but the case was dropped when a Singaporean court ruled that it would have to be heard in London.
Now the tycoon is preparing a claim against Mr Goodwin, Ms Birdie, Ms Chang, The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (trading as RBS Greenwich Futures), and The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (Singapore Branch) in the British courts.
Speaking from his home in Japan, he also described the last 10 years as a “nightmare” and pledged to recover his firm’s losses from those involved “in full”.
He said: “After what has been an especially difficult decade due to our relationship with RBS, I now fully intend to recover my firm’s losses in full.
“I intend to bring a legal action against those involved in London where, I trust, justice will be served.”
The exact details of his up-coming claim have not been disclosed.
RBS was contacted for comment.