Chairman, of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh has cautioned contemporary African entrepreneurs to guard against a rising wave of corporate blackmail, even as he disclosed that he has never met one Benjamin Joseph, a fellow Igbo, and owner of Citadel Oracle Concepts, a small Ibadan-based retail firm who has been in the news recently as standing prosecution for allegedly falsely accusing Mr. Ekeh and others as well as one of Ekeh’s companies of an N170 m fraud.
Ekeh made this submission while addressing participants at the end of his final virtual mentorship project for 2022 with the theme – The Last Card – involving a cross-section of budding African entrepreneurs and postgraduate scholars drawn from select foreign universities last Thursday.
He had altered the earlier listed case study –“The emerging corporate miracle” to “ The Last Card” based on his current experience.
The Zinox Chairman’s comment comes even as lawyers from various backgrounds have continued to debate how Femi Falana, a popular Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) could have taken on a brief without carrying out due diligence into a case in which his client, the said Benjamin Joseph, has continued to sponsor a series of potentially defamatory media reports against Ekeh, despite having a subsisting N20m fine awarded against him by an Abuja court of competent jurisdiction for giving the Federal Government false information.
While addressing his audience on Thursday, October 6, 2022, Ekeh stated that today’s entrepreneurs must remain alive to the growing threat of blackmail in professional circles which he described as the fifth highest revenue earner globally. In addition, he added that in a case of corporate blackmail, there is often a ‘small masquerade’ involved.
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Referencing his experience in the earlier mentioned case involving Benjamin Joseph, Ekeh added: ‘‘corporate blackmail has grown exponentially in recent years, and often, the end purpose is extortion. I can confirm to you that there is no court case or indictment against me or any of my colleagues or my wife either with the Police, EFCC, or any court in Nigeria or abroad. I decided from the first day I started the business to be a child of the trust economy and delete my passion for money but instead, hold on to my passion for technology and that informed me to see myself as an only child even though I have other five successful siblings.
When asked by one of the participants how to prevent or guard against corporate blackmail, Ekeh submitted that entrepreneurs must remain above board in their dealings, while also putting in efforts to investigate and understand where the threat is coming from.
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‘‘My blackmailer had claimed first that no computers were supplied to FIRS by my company on his behalf and in seconds, we produced original serial numbers and delivery notes and they tallied with what FIRS received. Zero mistakes. Later, he claimed he was not aware of the contract, and in seconds FIRS produced a letter of authority he issued to his partner, Princess Kama physically with a copy of his passport and he now agreed under oath.
‘‘To start with, I have never met this man in my life. Neither has my wife met him in person. Even when he made attempts to meet with me, I rebuffed him because, by that time, I had investigated him and discovered where he was headed. In the tech business, we do not pay blackmailers because technology does not lie and that is the biggest mistake he has made in his life. Every lie he has told has been substantiated against him.
“Blackmailers have, with the backing of some innocent press successfully destroyed our politicians, public office holders, and their families as heads of criminal gangs, no matter how decent they are, and now they are gradually destroying wealth creators. Africa would be gone if they are allowed to succeed with our corporates,’’ the Zinox Chairman warned.