Egyptian American Bank, S.A.E. v. United States

34 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,374, 13 Cl. Ct. 337, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 169
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedSeptember 28, 1987
DocketNo. 627-85C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 34 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,374 (Egyptian American Bank, S.A.E. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Egyptian American Bank, S.A.E. v. United States, 34 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,374, 13 Cl. Ct. 337, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 169 (cc 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

FUTEY, Judge.

This case is before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff, Egyptian American Bank (Bank), organized under the laws of Egypt and located in Cairo, seeks judgment in the amount of $2,759,980, plus interest, based on the alleged wrongful retention by defendant of funds paid to the Department of State (Department), Office of Foreign Buildings Operations (FBO), pursuant to a bond obligation. Defendant seeks dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint and judgment in the amount of $88,000, plus interest, in its counterclaim based on the alleged wrongful retention by plaintiff of funds owed defendant under a letter of guarantee. For the reasons discussed hereinafter, plaintiff’s motion is denied while defendant’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

FACTS

Defendant, acting through the Department of State, Office of Foreign Buildings Operations, contracted on November 3, 1982, with Kramico, S.A.E. (Kramico), an Egyptian construction firm, for the building of a new United States Embassy office building in Cairo, Egypt. As originally drafted this contract, FBO Contract No. 3416-231001, provided for completion of the project in 38 months at a price of $27,599,791. Article 2(a) of the contract provided that:

The Contractor shall furnish the Government, from reliable surety(ies) within thirty (30) calendar days after the execution of this contract, a performance and a payment bond, each in the amount of 15 percent of the contract price.

This percentage was reduced in the Supplementary General Conditions to 10 percent of the contract price.

By letter dated November 6,1982, Kram-ico advised the Bank of the above contract and requested plaintiff to issue the financial instruments called for therein. The pertinent language reads as follows: “The letter of guarantee may please be issued in your standard form and the Performance Bond issued in U.S. Government Standard Form DS 1167. A copy of the contract agreement and DS 1167 are enclosed.”

Pursuant to this letter the Bank issued a “LETTER OF GUARANTEE NO. 82/6848 ADVANCE PAYMENT” to the Department in the amount of $2,200,000 on November 10, 1982. This instrument, as amended on November 11 and December 6, 1982, secured the repayment of an advance payment extended to Kramico by the Government and reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

WE, EGYPTIAN AMERICAN BANK, ZAMALEK, CAIRO, hereby irrevocably and unconditionally guarantee the amount of U.S. $2,200,000.00 [and] undertake to pay to you on your first demand in writing to us any amount you may ask, but not exceeding the amount of our guarantee, notwithstanding any contestation of the contractor or any other party.

The letter of guarantee set forth a repayment schedule whereby Kramico was to repay the foregoing sum by means of $88,-000 deductions from 25 consecutive progress payments. As to the method of repayment, the instrument provided:

The amount of this Letter of Guarantee will be reduced upon presentation of Contract Estimates, Form DS-379a, signed by the Government’s Project Manager certifying partial repayments of the advance payment in conjunction with progress payments in accordance with the contract, or as otherwise certified by the Government’s Project Manager in writing.

[339]*339On November 11, 1982, the Bank issued a second financial instrument to the Department in the amount of $2,759,980. Instead of using the Government’s standard form DS 1167 for performance bonds, however, the Bank used its own printed form entitled “LETTER OF GUARANTEE NO. (82/6849),” beneath which the caption “PERFORMANCE BOND” was typed in. The printed form contains a clause reading “in connection with,” after which the following language was typed: “THE PERFORMANCE BOND FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW EMBASSY OFFICE BUILDING TOWER & RELATED WORK ON EMBASSY COMPOUNDS, AS PER CONTRACT AGREEMENT NO. 3416-231001 DATED NOV. 3, 1982.” Underneath this entry the printed form states: “We agree to pay you this amount on your first demand, notwithstanding any contes-tation from the above-named (Kramico).” The Department accepted the Bank’s instrument in lieu of the standard government form.

Kramico began work on the project in early 1983. By letter dated November 27, 1984, however, the Department expressed concern to Kramico about the progress of construction and requested certain information about financing and scheduling. A more detailed letter was sent to Kramico on December 28,1984, in which the Department requested specifics regarding Krami-co’s financing, scheduling for the duration of the contract, and arrangements with subcontractors. The letter advised Krami-co that if it failed to satisfy the requirements set forth therein by January 10, 1985, the construction contract would be terminated for default. Although Kramico did respond in writing on the above date, the Department adjudged the response unsatisfactory and, by letter dated January 13, 1985, informed Kramico that the construction contract was terminated.

On that same date, January 13,1985, the Department’s Project Manager for the Cairo embassy construction, Mr. Joseph Tous-saint, hand-delivered a letter on behalf of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Foreign Buildings (the contracting officer) to Dr. Farid Saad, Vice Chairman of the Egyptian American Bank, demanding “payment of the letters of guarantee No. 82/6848 for the amount of U.S. $440,000 and No. 82/6849 for the amount of U.S. $2,759,-980.” The $440,000 represented the sum allegedly not yet repaid by Kramico against the advance payment made by the Government at the outset of the project. Mr. Toussaint was advised to return to the Bank the following morning to receive payment. When he did so he was delivered two checks in the amounts of $352,000 and $2,759,980.

Mr. Toussaint questioned Dr. Saad about the discrepancy in the amount of payment on Letter of Guarantee No. 82/6848. Dr. Saad took the position that the difference of $88,000 between the amount demanded and the amount paid was justified by the issuance of the Government’s Contract Estimate No. 23 on November 20-21, 1984. This Estimate showed a balance due to Kramico (after deduction of the requisite $88,000 advance repayment deduction) of $36,697.20 for the period of October 2 through November 6, 1984. Based on this Contract Estimate, the outstanding balance of Kramico’s advance payment (and the Bank’s obligation on Letter of Guarantee No. 82/6848) would have been reduced to $352,000.

The Government’s demand for $440,000 was based on a revised Estimate No. 23, which was issued December 23, 1984. At approximately the same time the original Estimate No. 23 was issued, Mr. Toussaint sent a letter to Kramico, dated November 20,1984, advising that the Department had received information from the Egyptian Social Insurance authorities concerning amounts owed by Kramico and directing that Kramico furnish detailed information. These and other additional debts of Krami-co were listed in the revised Estimate No. 23, which covered the period of October 2 through December 23, 1984. The additional deductions left insufficient earnings for an advance repayment deduction and no balance due. Thus Kramico received no progress payment on either Estimate No. 23 or revised Estimate No. 23. The Government took the position that because [340]*340the above Estimates did not result in any payment to Kramico, they did not reduce the outstanding balance under Letter of Guarantee No.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

John Miller, Jr. v. Hillary Clinton
687 F.3d 1332 (D.C. Circuit, 2012)
National Australia Bank v. United States
55 Fed. Cl. 782 (Federal Claims, 2003)
Ferreiro v. United States
54 Fed. Cl. 274 (Federal Claims, 2002)
Wallace O'Connor International, Ltd. v. United States
37 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,165 (Court of Claims, 1991)
Egyptian American Bank, S.A.E. v. The United States
861 F.2d 728 (Federal Circuit, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
34 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,374, 13 Cl. Ct. 337, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/egyptian-american-bank-sae-v-united-states-cc-1987.