Morrell back with œ150m writ

David Morrell, former head of failed contractor Mitchell, will put forward a plan to sue Coopers &Lybrand for fraud at the holding company's forthcoming agm. If successful, it could lead to damages of œ150 million.

C&L said it would 'wait and see if a writ was issued and whether it has any substance'.

The action would centre on C&L's part in the controversial collapse of Mitchell back in 1973, following its disastrous involvement in the Kariba dam in Zambia. The project - ostensibly for Zambia - in fact turned out to be a bizzare political conspiracy to supply power to sanction-bound Rhodesia.

In a circular to shareholders Morrell claims attempts by the World Bank to save the firm from receivership were thwarted by C&L. He alleges that when C&L was appointed to investigate Mitchell's financial affairs, it suppressed a 200-page report that 'showed the company to be in an entirely satisfactory position' and replaced it with a summary report wrongly claiming it needed a œ17 million cash injection to survive.

Morrell also claims that C&L failed to disclose that it was advising the 'real' client for the scheme - the Central African Power Corporation. When project costs overran dramatically, he claims the Rhodesian quango had no chance of obtaining further international funds, or raising money from the outraged Zambians, who had been duped, and argues that there was a vested interest in seeing Mitchell collapse.

C&L said 'it's an old case which we consider has been closed'.