The High Court has taken the unusual step of criticising a sovereign state as well as the conduct of a solicitor, in the high-profile application to discharge a worldwide freezing order of the $100m assets of businessman Abdourahman Boreh.
The Republic of Djibouti claimed that Boreh made improper gains and was involved in a terrorist attack in the state, both denied by Boreh. However, evidence showed that transcripts and phone calls relied on in the case were incorrectly dated and did not implicate Boreh. This was known to the claimants and their solicitor, Peter Gray of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, before the freezing order application was made.
The court discharged the freezing order, finding that Gray and the claimants had deliberately and dishonestly misled the court, in Boreh v Republic of Djibouti [2015] EWHC 769 (Comm).
