Eko Hot Blog reports that the rift between billionaire businessman Femi Otedola and Zenith Bank chairman Jim Ovia has intensified over an alleged multibillion naira fraud accusation.
According to TheCable, Otedola claimed Ovia unlawfully traded using Seaforce Shipping Limited’s Zenith Bank account without his consent.
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Investigations by the Force Criminal Investigation Department are underway. However there are attempts to resolve the matter amicably.
Despite Seaforce’s account being dormant since 2010, unauthorized trading totaling billions continued, unknown to Otedola.
Zenith Bank allegedly failed to provide documentation supporting the loans taken from the account.
Otedola discovered the irregularities when alerted by a whistleblower. When approached, Zenith Bank officials reportedly apologized but failed to explain the discrepancies.
Otedola a 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 account statement seen by TheCable
In the alleged fraudulent transactions detail released by Otedola, transactions totaling over N16 billion were recorded from 2011 to 2024, leading to Seaforce’s current debt of N5.9 billion, mainly due to interest charges.
The Forte Oil founder queried who made the payments to reduce the purported debt from N16,927,628,581.84 to N11,010,924,522.71 because he was not in the know of the transactions.
There were credits of N77,169,375.00 on April 18, 2011, N119,822,762.50 on December 01, 2011, N316,537,329.30 on December 8, 2011, N266,361,181.73 on December 15, 2011 and N444,304,524.50 on December 12, 2011.
Seaforce now has a debt of N5,916,704,059.13 as a result, a chunk of it being interest charges.
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A senior bank official has been questioned by the Police.
In the meantime, Otedola and associated companies have obtained a federal high court injunction against Zenith Bank and related entities, restraining them from trading shares or paying dividends until further legal proceedings.
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