Zenith Bank Plc and its Lokoja Branch Manager, Salawu Nasiru, together with two Chinese citizens, Liu Yangxi and Ma Zhuang, have conspired to defraud two Nigerian ceramic companies and their directors.

Messrs Salawu, Liu and Ma were accused of fraudulently obtaining about N17 billion in credits on behalf of BN Ceramic Industry Limited and NB Ceramic Limited, and Zhang Qide, a director and shareholder in the ceramic firms.

The loans, secretly obtained without the knowledge of the Nigerian companies, were disbursed to Liu between November 4, 2021, and August 31, 2023.

Documents also indicated that Mr Salawu, the Zenith Bank branch manager in Lokoja, received over N100,000,000 as kickbacks for ‘facilitating’ the N17bn loan dubiously obtained by Mr Liu and his accomplices.

Mr Liu, like Zhang Qide, holds positions as a shareholder and director at the ceramic firm, and Messrs Ma and Liu have family ties.

The predicament of the Nigerian ceramic company and its director, Mr Qide, began with Mr Liu, without proper consultation or approval from the management, directors, and shareholders of BN Ceramic Ltd orchestrated, with the assistance of Messrs Ma and Salawu, the acquisition of a N3 billion loan from Zenith Bank, findings showed.

“Liu, in collaboration with Ma and Salawu, falsified Zhang Qide’s signature on the loan documents, including the offer of credit facility and the approving board resolution. Additionally, Mr Liu engaged in criminal conduct by falsely presenting himself as the managing director of both BN Ceramic Industry Limited and NB Ceramic Limited.

“He proceeded to pledge/charge all fixed and floating assets of the BN Ceramic Industry Limited and NB Ceramics Limited, including its machinery and equipment, as collateral for the loan, without proper authorisation from the respective boards and shareholders of both companies.

“Upon the approval and disbursement of the N3 billion loan into NB Ceramic Limited’s account, Liu paid N69,900,000 as kickbacks to Mr Salawu and also cleared the bank fees. Thereafter, without obtaining necessary consent or adhering to the company’s approved procedures, Mr Liu immediately transferred the remaining N2.68 billion balance to the companies he controlled. One of the companies, Wetech Industry Ltd got N300 million. The second company, Pure Biotech Company Limited, got N701 million, while the third company, CBC Oil & Gas Services Ltd, received N1.67 billion. After the accounts of the three companies were credited, Liu quickly laundered the funds into Chinese Yuan and transferred them to his personal account in China, all without informing or gaining approval from the board,” a staff of NB Ceramic Limited, who craved anonymity, said.

The staff further noted that “Mr Liu collaborated with a member of his criminal group to establish a shell company named Wetech Industry Limited. In this arrangement, Liu and Lu Hao, represented by Bello Musa as a front, held 45% and 55% of the shell company’s shares, respectively. “Custom Clearance and Inland Transportation for the Second Lot of AKK Project” with BRENTEX CPP Ltd.

The contract served as the basis for securing a loan of N6 billion again from Zenith Bank, with assistance from their insider, Mr Salawu. Mr Liu pledged all fixed and floating assets of the BN Ceramic Industry Limited and NB Ceramics Limited, including its machinery and equipment, as collateral for the loan, without proper authorisation from the respective boards and shareholders of both companies, findings showed. The loan duration is from August 30, 2022, to August 30, 2026, but the service contract of the loan expired on January 29, 2024. Right now, the company has no fixed assets as all its vehicles during the loan contract period were leased.

Mr Liu allegedly moved the funds by “generating fake proforma invoices with the aid of Mr Salawu and Ma, then transferred the funds offshore without engaging in any legitimate contracts. On August 31, 2023, Liu obtained an additional loan from Zenith Bank PLC, amounting to a total sum of N8 billion through his Shell Company – Wetech Industry Limited, purportedly to finance the construction of a fictitious ethanol facility claiming it has an annual capacity of 72,912,000 ltrs output in Makurdi, Benue State”.

“Upon the approval and disbursement of the N8 billion loan into Wetech Industry Limited’s account, Liu immediately transferred N6 billion to Pure Biotech Company Limited, where the shared moneys were converted into Chinese Yuan and transferred to their personal accounts,” sources said.

Meanwhile, Pure Biotech Company Limited, a cassava processing plant located at Kilometer 10, Gboko Road, linked to Mr Liu, was reported to have directly discharged wastewater into River Benue in April 2023, which affected the quality of water and aquatic life in the river and across Benue State. In reaction, the Benue State Government sealed the company for one month. Again, in April 2024, a welder died at the company in Makurdi. This was as a result of poor safety operational measures. The source further alleges that “The company has not stopped its discharge of sewage to date and an alcohol plant tank explosion incident that occurred in 2024 that led to one death and one severe injury.”

Sources further stated that “Pure Biotech Company Limited is currently under investigation for evading value added tax worth over N3 billion and company income tax worth over N4billion between 2022 to 2024”.

“In this endeavour to secure a loan, Mr Liu once again misrepresented himself as the managing director of both BN Ceramic Industry Ltd and NB Ceramic Ltd, falsifying Mr Qide’s signature on all necessary documentation.

The managements of BN Ceramic Industry and NB Ceramic Ltd contacted the Managing Director of Zenith Bank on February 2, 2024. It is expected that the bank will investigate the allegations.

Petitions have already been sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the State Security Service, SSS, over the matter.

The petitions partly said: “This situation raises serious national security concerns. The petitioners are deeply concerned that this may be just one instance of many frauds perpetrated against the Nigerian banking system. If left unchecked, such fraudulent activities could potentially precipitate a financial crisis.”

“At a time our economy is battling various challenges, it is worrisome that foreigners can come into our land unchecked, falsify documents and defraud legal operating businesses to the tune of billions of naira,’’ the petitions added. “So, it appears like there is a problem of poor regulation in our banking industry. As such, we are calling on law-enforcement agencies and the Central Bank of Nigeria to really look into this issue and several others like this, which are happening.”

Spokespersons for Messrs Liu, Ma and Salawu did not return requests seeking comments. Zenith Bank or its leadership was not accused of direct knowledge of the fraud outside Mr Salawu’s alleged role.

A spokesperson for the EFCC declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.