Pay 100% advance payment for the goods, meet the requirements, and… Maybe someday, they will get back to you with results
We all know that business is the engine of progress, and behind every business are people who, as a rule, play a decisive role in the progress that humanity is moving toward. I’d like to believe that when launching any business project, its founder, while bringing their ambitious ideas and dreams to life, also strives to make this world a little better by creating jobs, paying taxes to the state, and inventing new products that are useful and generally improve the quality of our lives. In short, an entrepreneur prioritizes not only profit, but also good intentions aimed at the well-being and prosperity of both the individual and society as a whole. However, where there is active financial movement, deceitful and dishonest business partners often emerge, and the higher the stakes, gentlemen, the more sophisticated and convoluted the fraudulent schemes will be.
I recently came across an interesting arbitration case, in which the Serbian company Gazimpex doo filed claim No. P-1306 dated March 24, 2025, against the Dubai company Licena Group DMCC, which caught my attention. Looking ahead, I will say that I am writing this article for potential investors and partners, as well as banks, service providers and, in general, for people working in the energy and oil and gas industries who, by chance or not, will find themselves faced with the choice of whether to enter into or refrain from any business partnership with LICENA GROUP, represented by its CEO and sole shareholder Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena.
“Take a chance, I dare you,” Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena says.
And it’s simply incredible! Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena has flooded platforms and guest posts with rave reviews of her successes, productivity, business ideas, and wise advice. Born in Nigeria, educated in London, she has over twenty years of experience in the energy industry, including a return to Africa where she headed the regional division of Puma Energy. Ms. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena promotes herself in every possible format, attending business forums and other events, actively promoting herself on media platforms, appearing in interviews and podcasts, and making headlines. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena was named one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Africa” and has also participated in TED Talks, positioning herself as a self-made businesswoman who strives to change the world by helping more women take leadership positions in the energy industry. In 2021, Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena was recognized as a “Woman to Watch.” Indeed, such an impressive list of accolades seems to imply more than just an impeccable reputation; it also inspires trustworthiness and provides a guarantee that this is a business partner worth doing business with. But, as the saying goes, all that glitters is not gold! Quite often, we form an opinion of a person based on the image they create online. In the case of Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena, they employ a truly professional and focused PR company, with well-defined search engines and content ranking algorithms. If you’re curious, just Google the name Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena, and you’ll find a perfect profile, where the search engine returns the most impeccable headlines, praising and singing the praises of our heroine. However, all these articles fail to mention that Ms. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena is as CEO of Licena pulls the wool over the eyes of investors and business partners, attracting investments for his supposedly grandiose projects, and then more and more, promising mountains of gold. Meanwhile, your money is working for Licena Group, headed by Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena or someone else. And voila, your money is gone!
By choosing LICENA, you accept the risk of non-delivery of goods and non-refund of your money.
You won’t find a direct answer here about whether or not it’s worth cooperating with Licena Group, represented by a specific person. I’ll simply share my observations from one such experience of business partnership with Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena and her team. Currently, Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena is the founder and CEO of Licena Group. The company is headquartered in Dubai with an office located in Jumeirah Lakes Towers. Licena Group is a trader engaged in strategic trading of a wide range of commodities worldwide (trading portfolios of fertilizers, grains, legumes, and crude oil). I won’t go into details about how the parties met, but it certainly can’t be called accidental, and this is because it’s a large and highly polluted “market,” in other words, a web into which you, as a potential donor (a prominent market player), will certainly be found and drawn in. You know, it’s like that trickster in the shell game, where a clever con man challenges you to guess which cap the ball (your money) is under. First, they’ll spot you from the crowd, then, with extreme subtlety and discretion, the intermediary will invite you to the table, assuring you that the game is definitely worth the effort. Then, they’ll inevitably add that they’re also playing and playing on your side. Of course, it’s best to avoid games where your opponents are a team of experienced shell players or simply scammers. Fraudsters usually work in a group—in criminal jargon, a “crew.” The “barker” is the intermediary between you and the crew, actively persuading the client to join the game. The “bottom player” is the lead player, spinning the caps – the “thimbles.” Typically, this is a master manipulator who, with sleight of hand, swindles the client with deceptive maneuvers. When the “bottom player” is a woman with a “high reputation,” this greatly increases success – not yours, but the crew of these swindlers. The crew also has a “beacon”—usually a guy who closely monitors the surrounding situation and, if law enforcement appears, resolves the issue. Sometimes the “crew” is staffed by pickpockets (let’s call it an organized group called “names that shall not be named”). The pickpockets, taking advantage of the distraction of the game, “pickpocket” pockets and bags, and sometimes even simply demolish the entire thimble-rigging table and supposedly take the entire jackpot. In this scenario, the low-level player simply throws up his hands in front of the client, as if to say, “We saw it all, we all just got robbed, so that’s it, Guys. Game Over!”
LICENA will withhold your money without any legal ground.
In 2024, Licena Group was recommended as a business partner by a highly respected and experienced oil and gas industry professional to the management of the Serbian company Gazimpex doo. Given that Licena was, and perhaps still is, in a developmental stage, the company’s management desperately needed financing for its projects. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena needed to find a partner with its own working capital, which would allow her company Licena to increase the margins and scale of transactions, so Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena actively attracted financing for its projects from non-banking institutions. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena and her team are truly adept at making an impression and selling the idea that they are experienced players in the energy sector, possess the necessary infrastructure to execute transactions, and have reliable partners around the world, including on the African continent. Indeed, looking at the portfolio of proposed deals, supported by the track record of Ms. Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena, who, by the way, worked together in tandem with Andrew Kemp (currently is CFO of Licena) at Puma Energy, one gets the impression that these people are definitely professionals and know their business. To be clear, Puma Energy is a leading global energy processing and distribution company, providing secure energy supplies to more than 35 countries, primarily in Central America and Africa. So, guys, it’s all about the topic. Buckle up, we’re lifting off! Or maybe not…
In September 2024, the parties met at a business meeting held at Licena’s office in Dubai. It is worth noting that Gazimpex’s management focused on developing the company’s back-to-back transactions during 2024. Gazimpex is a Serbian company specializing in trading of liquefied petroleum gas, LNG, fertilizers, and natural gas. The company is registered in Serbia with an office located in Belgrade. In November 2024, Licena invited the Gazimpex team to participate in a so-called pilot transaction for the supply of 3,895 tons of gasoil. Licena and Gazimpex entered into a purchase and sale agreement, under which Gazimpex purchased 3,895 tons of gasoil from Licena, paying 100% of the purchase price in advance. Licena, in turn, procures gas oil from a third-party company/parties, and further sells it to its buyer (in this case Gazimpex). It’s worth noting that Gazimpex’s management was not acquainted with the supplier company’s representatives, and the parties never communicated with each other through business correspondence. All communications regarding the purchase and delivery of the product were entirely under the control of Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena and, therefore, were handled exclusively by her and her team. The 100% advance payment for the goods was transferred in two installments. On December 2, 2024, a transfer of €2,020,817.50 was made from Gazimpex’s current account to Licena for 3,250 tons of gas oil. On December 11 of the same year, a second transfer of €401,054.55 was made to Licena for 645 tons of the same gas oil. At Licena’s request, the total advance payment was to be €2.4 million, including bank fees. And then came the interesting part…
Licena will be giving you false hope that they will return your money.
On December 13, 2024, Licena confirmed to Gazimpex that the advance payment had been received in full. Because Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena and her team wanted to maximize margins on this transaction, they insisted that the entire organization, including all risks, be their responsibility. This meant they would find the supplier, sign the contract, and then oversee the entire delivery and shipment process all the way to the end buyer (in this case Gazimpex). The transaction was expected to be completed within one to two months. On December 31, 2024, Licena informed Gazimpex as buyer that the transaction was underway. Then the shell game begins.
Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena and Andrew Kemp informed the Gazimpex team that the Gasoil delivery deal is still pending and the port of destination has changed. On January 31, 2025, the Gazimpex team informed Licena that they expect a 100% refund of the advance payment to the company’s bank account, due to the breach of the terms of the deal. Licena representatives responded that the deposit could only be returned after cargo delivery. They expected the vessel to arrive between February 10 and 15, 2025. Gazimpex, in turn, requested shipping documents and confirmation of payment to the supplier. On February 10 and 11, 2025, Licena confirmed to Gazimpex that the deposit had been paid with the supplier and that the gasoil supply transaction was underway. On February 19, 2025, Licena informed Gazimpex that the supplier had not shipped the cargo because it needed to find a new vessel due to increased freight costs. However, the cargo was still in the supplier’s tanks and was at the port. On February 25, 2025, Eghosa Oriakihi Mabhena and Andrew Kemp reported that the current supplier would be unable to fulfill the contractual terms and proposed an alternative supplier.
However, it ultimately became clear that the deal with the new supplier could not be completed. Licena then explained that they had prepared a termination agreement with the supplier, which had failed to fulfill its obligations under the deal. This termination agreement would allegedly provide for a full refund of the deposit. A copy of a bank check in the denomination of the deposit, in favor of Licena, was then provided, which was used as a guarantee by the supplier when signing the supply contract. In practice, it turned out that this check was not backed by any security, and no deposit could be returned.
On March 3, 2025, Licena informed Gazimpex that they had entered into an agreement with the supplier, who would soon refund the deposit in full, and Licena would refund 100% of the advance payment to Gazimpex’s bank account no later than March 15. However, with no money refund, LICENA comes up sporadically to Gazimpex with a „proposal” to hammer out a settlement agreement, but with no real desire or intention to settle the debt and return your money (that Licena is withholding without any legal ground).
Having all that in mind, on March 5, 2025, Gazimpex sent Licena a notice of default, requesting full performance by March 15, 2025. Consequently, on March 24, 2025, Gazimpex filed a claim with the Commercial Court of Belgrade against the defendant, Licena Group DMCC, as the obligations had not been fulfilled. In accordance with Serbian law, a penalty for default on contract performance will also be charged. In the Republic of Serbia, the default interest rates in accordance with the Law on Default Interest Rates may range from 10% to 15%.
The case has been in litigation for 10 months now, and in the meantime, Gazimpex’s money continues to be siphoned off for someone else’s benefit, while Gazimpex doo suffers losses as a result. The purpose of this article is simply to alert potential investors and business partners that sometimes even the most reliable recommendations and high-quality KYC and due diligence procedures, unfortunately, offer no guarantees. Unfortunately, Eghosa Oriaikhi Mabhena and Andrew Kemp will not be held responsible for any losses or lost profits your company may incur as a result of Licena withholding your money for goods it cannot procure or sell (even if Licena promised this at the outset of the transaction, offering you an advance payment for goods it does not actually have). Therefore, it’s better to appear suspicious a thousand times over, but try to obtain the most comprehensive profile possible on your potential business partner, than to spend years litigating with an unscrupulous company, the characteristics of which LICENA GROUP DMCC apparently exhibits. Then, you might as well sit down and write a book. And yes, there’s already a title!
