Banking and Finance Disputes
Cross-border Enforcement
Conflicts of Jurisdiction
White-collar Crime
Onoma FZE, trading as Onoma Litigation
Registered in CCFZ
Hamad Bin Mohammed Street
P.O. Box: 4422, Fujairah, UAE
DIFC Courts Reg No 1195A
Founder / Principal: Carlo FedrigoliExpertise
Onoma Litigation is led by its founder and principal Carlo Fedrigoli who specializes in international disputes and regulatory matters.
Carlo's core areas of expertise are cross-border finance / banking fraud cases, complex jurisdictional matters and conflicts of jurisdiction, regulatory matters, including trade sanctions, embargoes and trade restrictions.
Carlo is routinely involved in high-profile fraud cases, complex enforcement and jurisdictional challenges, often involving parallel / simultaneous proceedings in multiple courts, including the DIFC Courts, England, US / New York, India, Singapore, Hong Kong Courts.
Carlo's practice also involves extradition matters, international arrest warrants, Interpol red notices appeals, and sanctions designation challenges.
DIFC Court Litigation
CFI-046-2026 - Trafigura Pte Ltd v (1) Prateek Gupta, (2) UIL (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., (3) TMT Metals (UK) Ltd, (4) Mine Craft Limited and (5) New Alloys Trading Pte. Ltd
Onoma Litigation defends a claim for enforcement of a USD 700m English judgment in favour of Trafigura. The First Defendant has challenged the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts to hear the claim on different grounds (ongoing). Trafigura is represented by Reed Smith LLP.
CFI-040-2025 / CA-001-2025 - (1) Trafigura PTE LTD (2) Trafigura India PTV LTD v (1) Mr P. Gupta and ors
Onoma Litigation represents the Respondents. The Second Respondent has applied for a discharge of a freezing order that Trafigura, then represented by Stephenson Harwood, obtained during the course of 2025 in aid of foreign proceedings pending before the English Court (ongoing).
CFI-028-2023 Globe Investment Holdings Limited vs Commercial Bank of Dubai, VS 1897 and ors
Onoma Litigation acted for Commercial Bank of Dubai, three BVI subsidiaries of CBD and an intermediate Cayman holding company in successful jurisdiction application against Globe a corporate vehicle linked to the Al Sari family, represented by Quinn Emmanuel in London and Ince in Dubai.
Onoma Litigation successfully challenged the jurisdiction of the DIFC and discharge a freezing order that Globe's had obtained on the basis of a Sharjah judgment in Globe's favour for over $150 million.
CFI 023 / 025 2021 - IGPL General Trading LLC v (1) Hortin Holdings Limited (2) Lodge Hill Limited (3) Westdene Investment Limited [2021] DIFC CFI 023
CA 013 2021 - IGPL General Trading LLC Vs Hortin Holdings Limited and ors
Onoma Litigation acted for the Defendants, three BVI entities controlled by Commercial Bank of Dubai. IGPL, represented by Charles Russel Speechley, sought orders for specific performance of purported lease agreements entered in 2012 / 2013, which were said to create an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement in favour of IGPL and other parties, in respect of a luxury mixed use residential and commercial development in Queenstown Road, Battersea Park, London, known as "The Bridge".
Onoma Litigation applied for an immediate judgment dismissing the claim on the basis that the purported lease agreements were a sham and that the signatory of the purported lease agreements lacked the necessary authority to bind the BVI companies into the lease agreements. At CFI, Justice Roger Giles granted immediate judgment in favour of Hortin the Respondents in August 2021. The Court of Appeal upheld the CFI judgment in March 2022.
On the Duomatic principle:
The CFI and the CoA confirmed the well-established principle that management of the Respondents' business was exclusively vested in their director (i.e. Ayre) under both the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 and the companies' Articles of Association. Section 109 of the BVI BCA provides that "the business and affairs of a company shall be managed by, or under the direction or supervision of, the directors."
CFI 011 2018 - Akhmedova vs (1) Farkhad Teimur Ogly Akhmedov (2) Straight Establishment
Onoma Litigation / Carlo Fedrigoli, instructed by Farkhad Akhmedov, successfully challenged the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts to recognize / enforce an English matrimonial judgment in favor of Tatiana Akhmedova and issue a freezing injunction to arrest the Luna superyacht—which was docked at Port Rashid in Dubai.
The case was referred to the Dubai's Joint Judicial Committee / Cassation Court.
With a landmark decision, the JJC ordered that the DIFC enforcement / recognition proceedings be discounted and the case transferred to Dubai Court, where the English matrimonial judgment was deemed in conflict with the public policy and morals of the UAE and declared unenforceable.
The case received wide press coverage including on Bloomberg, BBC, FT, The National and Arabian Business -
Superyacht MV Luna in Akhmedov Divorce Case Free to Leave Dubai - Bloomberg
https://www.ft.com/content/3d4056c6-4cdc-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5?syn-25a6b1a6=1
FCI Markets (In Liquidation) - CFI 012/2019
Onoma Litigation acted for the liquidators of FCI Markets, a failed BVI brokerage. FCI Markets and two entities named TadawulME and Exential Group were the central participants in a massive $200 million Ponzi scheme that collapsed around 2016-2017.
Onoma Litigation obtained the recognition of the BVI liquidation order of FCI before the DIFC Courts, enforced the same locally, i.e. onshore across the UAE, and assisted the liquidator in a successful investigation and recovery of assets, including funds deposited with different banking and financial institutions in the UAE.
CFI 070 2018 - K.S.Y. v United Arab Bank
Onoma Litigation successfully applied for and obtained the avoidance of a series of forged personal guarantees in favor of United Arab Bank related to a AED 110m trade finance facility linked to a large loan recycling and round-tripping fraud.
United Arab Bank was represented by Baker McKenzie and Tamimi & Co.
K.S.Y. v Barclays Bank Plc
Onoma Litigation successfully applied for and obtained the avoidance of a series of forged personal guarantees in favor of Barclays related to a AED 50m trade finance facility. Barclays was represented by Addleshaw Godard.
The case was settled confidentially.
CFI 027 2016 - Nest Investments Holding Lebanon S.A.L. & others v Deloitte and Touche (M.E.) & another - DIFC Courts.
Onoma Litigation was instructed by Nest, a large insurance conglomerate based in Cyprus and Qatar, and other parties in a USD 128 MLN negligence and deceit claim against Deloitte & Touche M.E. for the audit of Lebanese Canadian Bank, a Lebanese bank identified as a "Primary Money Laundering Concern" by the US Treasury in 2011 for ties to a narcotics trafficking and money laundering network and Hizballah.
The case involved a series of interlocutory applications and a landmark decision by the Court of Appeal on the application of RDC 20.7, that expanded significantly the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts. The Court of Appeal established it has "desirable party" jurisdiction over additional defendants even if they fall outside standard geographic jurisdictional boundaries to join associated parties, arguing their inclusion was highly "desirable" to resolve all matters in dispute in a single, comprehensive proceeding.