Nigeria’s billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola has queried Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank over alleged unauthorized transactions worth billions of naira, as reported by TheCable.
Otedola has lodged a formal complaint with the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) accusing Ovia of illicitly using his company, Seaforce Shipping Limited’s Zenith Bank account for trading purposes back in 2011, without his consent or knowledge.
Despite the account being dormant since 2010, it was reportedly used to conduct substantial financial transactions.
Zenith Bank has not provided the necessary documentation to support the transactions when requested.
The anomaly was discovered by Otedola recently, after a whistleblower from within Zenith Bank alerted him to these unauthorized activities.
In a particular instance highlighted by Otedola, Zenith Bank acknowledged a debt of merely ₦2,278,420 in a 2018 correspondence to Seaforce’s auditors.
However, the bank statement from the same day indicated a substantially larger debt of ₦2.9 billion.
Further investigation revealed transactions totaling over ₦16 billion charged against Seaforce’s account from 2011 to 2024.
The discrepancy includes substantial credits applied to the account on various dates in 2011, which Otedola claims were unauthorized.
As a result, Seaforce is currently saddled with a debt of approximately ₦5.9 billion, with a significant portion attributed to interest charges.
In response to these issues, Otedola and associated entities including Zenon, Luzon Oil and Gas, and Garment Care Limited have secured a federal high court injunction against Zenith Bank and several other financial institutions.
The injunction prevents these entities from trading with shares or paying dividends linked to the involved accounts until a motion for interlocutory injunction is heard.
The FCID has already begun interrogating senior officials of Zenith Bank as part of the investigation into this high-profile allegation of financial misconduct.
The alleged unauthorised transactions:
