Zenith Bank faces probe in Abuja

The Nigeria Police Force in Abuja has commenced an investigation into Zenith Bank Plc following allegations of account falsification and non-payment of share dividends, brought forward by Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited, Premium Times reported Sunday.

The oil firm claims the bank tampered with its account statements to disguise outstanding dividend payments.

In a formal petition, Aquitane Oil accused Zenith Bank of withholding dividends totaling over N1.4 billion on shares held by its affiliate companies, Southern Grace Investment Ltd and Globular Trading Investment Services Ltd, comprising 10,775,299 and 17,425,300 units respectively.

Aquitane Oil claims that its subsidiaries have not received dividends on these shares since their acquisition around 2008, alleging that Zenith Bank manipulated account records to mask the unpaid dividends.

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According to sources, police at the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) in Abuja questioned two representatives from Zenith Bank’s oil and gas and legal departments regarding the claims on Wednesday. However, the bank officials were not detained as they were not primary suspects in the investigation. Additional bank personnel, including the chief compliance officer and account manager, are expected to be interviewed.

When contacted, Zenith Bank spokesperson reportedly questioned the source of the information, asking, “How did you get that information?” After further prompting, hestated, “I’m not aware.”

The investigating officer, Superintendent Anota Oluseye, declined to provide details, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Petitioner’s Claims
The FCID investigation began after Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited filed a petition on October 11, 2024, urging the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, to probe Zenith Bank over alleged attempts to “conceal illegalities” related to the shares held by Southern Grace Investment Ltd and Globular Trading Investment Services Ltd.

The petition, filed through legal counsel Lukman O. Fagbemi & Co, asserted that “dividends of 10,775,299 and 17,425,300 units of Zenith Bank shares bought by Southern Grace Investment Ltd and Globular Trading Investment Services Ltd respectively, have not been paid to the firms since 2008.” The shares were acquired during Zenith Bank’s 2008 Initial Public Offering, handled by Veritas Registrars Ltd.

Aquitane Oil claimed that in 2020, its subsidiaries discovered that dividends on their shares had not been paid. Efforts to clarify this with Veritas Registrars reportedly yielded no information.

“Our client also holds a bank Account No. 1011453742 with Zenith Bank Plc as a customer,” the petition noted. The firm stated that an August 2020 bank statement from Zenith showed the account had received no dividends from the bank.

Aquitane Oil alleged that Zenith Bank presented fabricated documents, including two letters from June and July 2008, to suggest that dividends had been deposited in Aquitane’s account. Additionally, a February 2021 statement purportedly showed dividend payments and a debit balance exceeding N1 billion. However, this contradicted the August 2020 statement, which confirmed no dividend transactions and indicated a positive account balance.

“This established the fact that the account was in credit and that no dividend payments were lodged into the account at any time,” the petition stated.

(PREMIUM TIMES)