By Tolu Badmus
The Nigerian police in Abuja are investigating Zenith Bank Plc over alleged falsification of a shareholder’s bank statements and withholding of share dividends.
The investigation was prompted by a petition from Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited which accused the Zenith Bank of falsifying the oil firm’s account statement.
Aquitane Oil also accused the bank of refusing to pay over N1.4billion dividends accrued from 10,775,299 and 17,425,300 shares units belonging to its affiliate firms – Southern Grace Investment Ltd and Globular Trading Investment Services Ltd respectively.
Aquitane Oil, which petitioned the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) in Abuja, accused the bank of falsifying its account statement in an elaborate effort to conceal the non-payment of the dividends of the shares of the two subsidiary firms.
The company said the two subsidiaries had not been paid their dividends since the purchase of the shares about 2008 and that the bank falsified its own account statements to “conceal” the failure to pay the accumlated dividends.
It was further gathered that the police interrogated two representatives of Zenith Bank regarding the case at the FCID Abuja on Wednesday. The Zenith Bank officials were said to be from the oil and gas and legal departments of Zenith Bank.
The police did not detain the officials because they were not direct subjects of investigation.
A source said the police would still interrogate other officials of the bank, like the chief compliance officer and the account officer handling the accounts of the bank.
The FCID launched the investigation after Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited sent a petition dated 11 October 2024 to the Inspector-General of Police Olukayode Egbetokun.
In the petition, submitted through Lukman O. Fagbemi & Co, the petitioner called on the IGP to investigate Zenith Bank for attempting to “conceal the illegalities” concerning the company’s shares in the bank.
Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited stated 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 Zenith Bank shares were bought during the Initial Public Offer held by Zenith Bank in 2008 with Veritas Registrars Ltd as the registrar.
Aquitance Oil said in 2020, Southern Grace and Globular Trading realised that the dividends for their shares had not been paid by Zenith Bank since 2008.
Following the discovery, the oil company said its subsidiaries contacted Veritas Registrars Ltd, the registrars of Zenith Bank, to enquire about their dividends, however, Veritas reportedly did not provide any information.
“Our client also holds a bank Account No. 1011453742 with Zenith Bank Plc as a customer,” the petition read.
Aquitane Oil said a bank statement obtained on 21 August 2020, from a Zenith Bank branch, showed the financial institution had not been receiving dividends from the lender.
However, the company alleged that Zenith Bank falsely claimed in letters dated 17 June 2008, and 22 July 2008, that dividends had been paid into Aquitane Oil accounts with the lender and “fabricated and concocted a false Statement of Account with Zenith produced sometime in February 2021 in respect of Aquitane’s Account No: 1011453742,” to show dividend payments into the bank account of Aquitane and a debit balance of about N1 billion.
“Surprisingly, in an attempt to conceal the illegalities committed with regard to the shares dividend, Zenith Bank subsequently produced documents including two letters dated 17 June 2008 and 22 July 2008 to create the false and spurious narrative that the dividends from the said shares were paid into Aquitane Accounts with Zenith Bank,” the company noted.
It added that, “Zenith Bank thereafter fabricated and concocted a false Statement of Account produced sometime in February 2021 in respect of Aquitane’s Account No. 1011453742 which now showed dividend payments into the Bank account of Aquitane and a debit balance well in excess of N1 billion Naira,” noting that the statement of account materially “conflicts with and contradicts the Statements of Account issued earlier by the same Zenith Bank on 21st August 2020” in the normal course of business upon request from a branch.
“This established the fact that the account was in credit and that no dividend payments were lodged into the account at any time,” it added
