The face-off between Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, and the chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, over an alleged multibillion naira fraud has taken a turn for the worse, TheCable reports.
According to the platform, Otedola had accused Zenith Bank of unlawfully using the account of his company, Seaforce Shipping Limited, to trade in 2011 without his knowledge or consent.
Although this and other allegations are being investigated by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the police, moves are being made to resolve the matters amicably.
ALLEGED UNAUTHORISED TRANSACTIONS
In spite of having not been operated since 2010, Seaforce Shipping’s account continued to be used for trading — completely unknown to Otedola, according to his petition to the police.
Otedola said, even though Seaforce never applied for, nor took a loan from Zenith Bank, unauthorised trading running into billions of naira continued on the account.
When asked to provide documentation including offer letters to support the grant of loans, Zenith Bank reportedly was unable to do so.
Otedola was said to have discovered the suspicious activities only recently, 13 years after the transactions when he was tipped off by a whistle blower in Zenith Bank.
When he confronted Zenith Bank’s officials, they apologised, according to TheCable.
Otedola produced a letter written on March 19, 2018 by Zenith Bank to Shofolawe-Bakare & Co, Seaforce’s auditors, stating a debt of only N2,278,420 on the same account, as against the N5 billion recorded in the bank statement seen by TheCable.
A senior official of the bank has already been questioned by the police, the medium reports.
Meanwhile, Zenon, Seaforce, Luzon Oil and Gas, Garment Care Limited, and Otedola have secured a federal high court injunction against Zenith Bank, Quantum Zenith Securities and Investment, Veritas Registrar, and Central Securities Clearing System, restraining them from trading with shares or paying dividends.
This injunction subsists until the hearing of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.