The second such alleged deal, in which Tri Ri purportedly agreed to swap shares in US technology firm Palantir worth almost €50m for shares in San Leon, is the subject of proceedings that came before the court on Wednesday.

Gary McCarthy, appearing with Declan Harmon for San Leon, said he was seeking an order freezing up to €50m in assets owned by Tri Ri, its director Shan Ahmad Ali, and its chief investment officer Asad Ali. 

Mr McCarthy also said he was seeking an injunction restraining Tri Ri from selling its 419,000 shares in Palantir.

Mr Justice Brian Cregan said he would grant the orders on an interim basis. The application was made with only the San Leon side represented.

Tri Ri, according to San Leon, holds shares worth $850m (€790.7m) and has additional assets under its management worth $1.2bn.

In a sworn statement to the court, San Leon chief executive Oisín Fanning said that for some time, the oil and gas firm had been seeking to raise capital and “progress business opportunities”, in particular oil exploration in Nigeria.

On foot of this, and following negotiations in September 2023, Tri Ri agreed to invest up to $187m in San Leon.

Mr Fanning said that Tri Ri failed to honour this agreement, and no money was transferred to San Leon.

This inflicted “reputational and financial damage” on San Leon, Mr Fanning claims. 

San Leon intends to initiate separate legal proceedings against Tri Ri arising from this alleged breach of contract, Mr Fanning said.

Some time after this, Mr Fanning spoke with Asad Ali, who described himself as Tri Ri’s chief investment officer. 

Mr Fanning said Mr Ali spoke of wanting to “make amends” for the previous alleged failure to honour the investment agreement. 

Mr Ali blamed his father, Tri Ri director Shan Ahmad Ali, for the previous issues.

After he consulted with “trusted advisers”, Mr Fanning said he took the view that “everyone is deserving of a second chance”. 

After “some hesitancy”, he said that the parties agreed to a swap of San Leon shares for a number of “highly liquid public limited stock”. 

Mr Fanning said San Leon intended to immediately sell the stock to raise capital quickly.

On February 14, 2025, pursuant to the agreement, stockbroker JP Morgan confirmed the purported transfer to San Leon of Tri Ri’s 419,000 shares in Palantir. 

However, Mr Fanning claims these shares “remain undelivered” to San Leon.

The shares were worth almost €50m on February 14, according to Mr Fanning. 

The shares have since fallen in value, and are now worth close to €34m.

Mr Fanning alleges that both Shan Ahmad Ali and Asad Ali have been “intimately involved in interfering” with the transfer of the Palantir shares to San Leon. 

“They have also been involved in acts of intimidation, including in making physical threats to my person,” he claimed.

This “intimidation” followed correspondence between the parties, in which San Leon set out the alleged breach of contract, and required steps to remedy the breach.

Mr Fanning alleges that Asad Ali has threatened to send individuals to his home to “deal” with him, that Asad Ali sent “aggressive and inflammatory” WhatsApp messages to him, and that Asad Ali made a public statement about him on social media aimed at causing “reputational and professional harm”.

Explaining the orders sought from the court, Mr Fanning said the Palantir shares at the centre of the proceedings are “readily tradable” and could be disposed of by Tri Ri at any time.

Mr Justice Cregan adjourned the case to later in the week.