An Accra High Court, Commercial Division, has scheduled July 15, 2025, for the commencement of a trial involving Dram Oil and Trading Limited and global audit firm Deloitte and Touche.
Dram Oil and Trading Limited, the plaintiff, is seeking an order for the payment of $187.596 million, among other reliefs, from Deloitte and Touche over alleged negligence in the execution of an audit assignment.
The company claims Deloitte and Touche was appointed by the Accra High Court in 2018 to carry out an audit in a case involving Dram Oil and Vihama Energy Limited, a Bulk Oil Distribution Company.
The dispute stemmed from an earlier oil transaction involving the two companies, which was financed by Cal Bank Ghana Limited.
In its statement of claim, filed by its counsel Gaspar Lyle Nii-Aponsah of Lex Premier Associates, Dram Oil explained that it was previously embroiled in a commercial dispute initiated by Cal Bank over the oil transaction.
The matter was settled in 2015, with the court ruling in favor of Dram Oil.
Following the ruling, the court, presided over by Justice Novisi Aryene, ordered the appointment of an audit firm to review the books, records, and inventory of Vihama Energy Limited.
The audit was to focus on payments, receivables, and under-recoveries related to the Tripartite Agreement involving Cal Bank, Vihama Energy, and Dram Oil.
Dram Oil alleges that Vihama Energy had been fully paid all fees owed under the agreement and was not entitled to any further sums, a position confirmed by the court’s judgment.
The company also noted that Vihama Energy, in response to the judgment, withdrew its previously filed counterclaim.
In line with the court’s consequential orders, Dram Oil and Deloitte and Touche entered into an agreement for the audit assignment.
However, the plaintiff claims that Deloitte and Touche’s final audit report concluded, contrary to the court’s judgment, that Dram Oil was indebted to Vihama Energy by a significant sum.
This report, Dram Oil alleged, was adopted by the court after Deloitte’s partner, Mr. Daniel Owusu, who oversaw the audit, was cross-examined by lawyers for Dram Oil and Cal Bank on the process and conclusions of the audit.
The case is expected to proceed to full trial on July 15, 2025.
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