Un entrepreneur sénégalais accuse Eiffage Rail de falsification et réclame près de 200 millions de FCFA
A new dispute has emerged between a Senegalese company and a subsidiary of the Eiffage group. Veneta Flex Hydraulic, a company specializing in hydraulic services, filed a complaint with the public prosecutor at the Dakar High Court in September 2024 against Eiffage Rail Senegal, accusing it of contract falsification and non-payment of services.
According to the terms of the complaint filed by Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé, lawyer for the plaintiff company, Veneta Flex claims to have entered into a service contract with Eiffage Rail on March 1, 2018, for the manufacture and repair of hydraulic hoses, including the provision of a technician, an equipped van, and a driver. In return, Eiffage Rail agreed to pay 45,000 FCFA per day for the rental of the van.
But according to Veneta Flex CEO Mr. Badiane, contacted by Seneweb, these commitments have not been kept. He is claiming the total sum of 92,850,989 FCFA from the company, including 12,138,989 FCFA corresponding to services for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. "When the initial contract with Eiffage Rail expired, it was automatically renewed, so we continued our collaboration with the said structure," he said.
A contested arbitration clause
The dispute was initially brought before the Dakar Commercial Court, which, however, declared itself incompetent, citing the presence of an arbitration clause in the contract binding the two parties. "The parties shall endeavor to resolve amicably any disputes or litigation that may arise between them in connection with or in connection with the contract. This attempt at amicable settlement shall be considered to have failed as soon as one party notifies the other by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt. In the event of failure of the attempt at amicable settlement, the dispute shall be finally settled in accordance with the rules of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce by three arbitrators appointed in accordance with these rules.
The place of arbitration shall be Paris (France). The language of arbitration shall be French. This procedure shall be carried out in accordance with the arbitration rules in force at the time of signing this contract, to which both parties declare to adhere,” reads the document, which, according to Veneta Flex, was falsified. Mr. Badiane thus contested the decision of the Commercial Court, maintaining that he had never signed a document containing such a clause.
Worse, the company claims that the contract produced by Eiffage Rail in court was falsified. "This document mentions a company called Veneta Frex, with a clumsy attempt to imitate our name and the signature of our legal representative," the plaintiff claimed.
Accusations of forgery and use of forgery
Veneta Flex claims that this procedure allowed Eiffage Rail to unduly obtain a favorable decision before the commercial court, based on a falsified contract. Believing itself to be the victim of commercial identity theft and falsification of official documents, the company is now asking the public prosecutor to open a criminal investigation to shed light on the matter.
Seneweb tried to contact Eiffage Rail to get its version, without success.
Commentaires (6)
LISONS LES CONTRATS AVANT DE LES SIGNER, les PME le plus souvent ne s'attachent du service d'un avocat ou juriste lors de la signature d'un contrat. Ce qui permet d'identifier les risques et demander des amendements
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