The clash between billionaire businessman Femi Otedola and Jim Ovia, chairman of Zenith Bank, has escalated amid allegations of multibillion-naira fraud, according to TheCable.
Otedola had accused Zenith Bank of illicitly using the account of his company, Seaforce Shipping Limited, for trading in 2011 without his knowledge or consent.
Despite the account being inactive since 2010, unauthorized transactions continued, unbeknownst to Otedola, as revealed in his petition to the police.
An investigation by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) is underway, and efforts are being made to resolve the issue amicably.
However, Otedola discovered the suspicious activities only recently, 13 years after the transactions, tipped off by a whistleblower within Zenith Bank.
Otedola claimed that Seaforce Shipping never applied for nor took a loan from Zenith Bank, yet unauthorized trading worth billions of naira occurred.
Zenith Bank reportedly failed to provide documentation to support the alleged loans when requested.
In a letter dated March 19, 2018, Zenith Bank informed Seaforce’s auditors of a debt of N2,278,420, contrasting sharply with the N5 billion recorded in the bank statement. On the same day, the bank statement showed a debt of N2.9 billion, according to Otedola.
Transactions amounting to over N16 billion were recorded against Seaforce’s account from 2011 to 2024.
Otedola questioned who made the payments that reduced the purported debt from N16.9 billion to N11 billion, as he was unaware of these transactions.
The account now has a debt of N5.9 billion, primarily due to interest charges. A senior Zenith Bank official has already been questioned by the police.
In response, Otedola, along with Zenon, Seaforce, Luzon Oil and Gas, and Garment Care Limited, secured a federal high court injunction against Zenith Bank and other entities, preventing them from trading shares or paying dividends until the hearing of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.
