UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AKWASI BOAKYE OSEI, : : Plaintiff, : Civil Action No.: 19-1644-RC : v. : Re Document No.: 9 : STANDARD CHARTERED BANK, et al. : : Defendants. : MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR DISMISSAL Plaintiff alleges a vast conspiracy involving defendant, Standard Chartered Bank, and officials within Ghana’s and the United States’ court systems. See Compl. ¶ 10–46, ECF No. 1. The defendant moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and lack of personal jurisdiction. Def. Mot. Dismiss at 2, ECF No. 9. The Court will grant the motion because the Plaintiff fails to identify a proper basis for jurisdiction. I. Factual and Procedural Background Plaintiff, Akwasi Boakye Osei, is a Ghana-born businessman who currently resides in the United States. On December 11, 2014, Osei claims to have obtained a judgment against Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd. in the Ghana High Court of Justice “award[ing] [him] damages of fourteen million US dollars.” Osei v. Std. Chtd. Bank, No. 18-cv-1530, 2019 WL 917998, at *1 (D.D.C. Feb. 25, 2019), aff’d sub nom. No. 19-7018, 2019 WL 2563460 (D.C. Cir. June 4, 2019). The award included compensation for “wrongfully dishonor[red] che[ck]s” and for “special and general damages for . . . wrongful acts.” Id. (quoting December 11, 2014 Ghana High Court Judgment). On December 18, 2014, Standard Chartered “applied to [the Ghana High Court of Justice] for an order staying the execution of the judgment pending . . . [an] appeal.” Id. 1 On March 23, 2015, the Ghana High Court of Justice partially granted the order, requiring Standard Chartered to “pay [roughly $1.3 million USD] of the judgment debt.” Id. After Standard Chartered failed to pay, Osei filed suit in the New York Supreme Court on May 26, 2015, seeking recognition and enforcement of the claimed $14 million judgment. Id. at *2. While the suit was pending, the Ghana Court of Appeal granted a “complete stay of execution of the judgment” of the Ghana High Court. Id. Plaintiff brings the instant action, requesting enforcement of the $14 million judgment by the Ghana court and vacatur of all orders and decisions obtained by Standard Chartered in prior cases in New York Supreme Court. See Compl. ¶ 48–56, ECF No. 1. Osei claims there is a “grand scheme” or conspiracy between the Defendants, Ghana officials, and the state and federal Courts to deprive him of his business and persecute him and his family. Id. ¶ 1. This is the fifth lawsuit in the United States that the Plaintiff has filed about this supposed conspiracy. The first lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, was dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Osei v. Std. Chtd. Bank, No. 15- cv-03992, 2015 WL 4006211 at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 30, 2015). Plaintiff continued to write letters to the court to protest the dismissal and Judge Schofield, construing his protests as requests for reconsideration, issued a ...
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