In 2014, Keneth Amadi was promoted as the CEO of Eunisell Chemical with a 2.5 million naira monthly salary plus a $4000 monthly payment for his personal expenses and a Lexus SUV as his official car, but he still betrayed his boss by diverting funds of over 3 billion to a competing company of which he and his wife were the owners!

Let’s read:

25 years ago, Nigerian businessman Chika Ikenga and the owner of Nature's Gentle Touch, a Nigerian-made hair relaxer, founded a subsidiary business called Eunisell Chemical, a company licensed by the Department of Petroleum (DPR) to import chemicals and base oils into Nigeria.

He was motivated by the fact that only a few companies import the chemicals used by his company to produce hair relaxers.

He wanted to own the eco system by supplying the Nature Gentle Touch company with the chemicals they need for production and then supplying competitors in the same hair relaxer industry as well.

The business grew by leaps and bounds, and the importation of base oil and addictive, were later added to the company's portfolio.

Base oil and lubricant addictive are the critical raw material and component used in the production of lubricants like Sea Horse Lubricants.

Instagram celebrity Jowi Zaza is among the few cartels that have the license to import base oil into Nigeria.

Base oil is a by-product of crude oil refining, so since our refinery is not working and moribund, a market was created for the likes of Jowi Zaza and Eunisell to import this base oil and then sell it to lubricant companies that don't have the license to import it, which they use in the final production of motor engine oil.

In the year 2000, a certain Kenneth Amadi joined Eunisell as a salesperson.

He was fresh out of NYSC and eager to learn.

His job description was to hustle for customers that would buy base oil for the production of lubricants and customers that needed chemicals for the production of

Shampoos, dyes, conditioners, and relaxers

Soaps and detergents

Anti-foams (for filling requirements)

Hand and body creams

Make-up

Eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, etc.

Home Care Products

Kenneth Amadi, attached in the picture below, was so good that he rode through the ranks and was appointed as the GM of the company in record time.

As Eunisell’s chemicals importation, distribution, and manufacturing business grew, so did Ikenga's concern for the welfare and work conditions of his employees, including Amadi, who soon rose to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with a salary of N2.5 million monthly plus $4,000 monthly (according to his employer), an official Lexus SUV, business class tickets for travel, and free medical care abroad, all paid for by Eunisell as of October 2016.

Eunisell boasts clients such as Shell, Total, ExxonMobil, Cando, A-Z Petroleum, Conoil, and Amassco Oil.

The founder of the firm, who was trained as an industrial chemist, trusted Amadi so much that he gave him unfettered access and total control of his base oil and chemical businesses, a trust that was later betrayed by his employee.

Apparently, his manager, Amadi, and his wife formed a company without his knowledge.

The company was to compete with Eunisell, doing the same business.

So what Amadi was doing was simple.

Instead of sending an invoce to Amascco and AZ Lubricants with the name of his employer, Eunisell, he would send the invoce with the name of his personal company IDID with their bank account attached.

He would collect his commission and then remit the balance, which was the original cost of the product, to his employer.

Since these companies knew he was the MD of Eunisell and that he always delivered the base oil and lubricant addictive they paid for, they did not raise a red flag.

Business was so good that Amadi and his wife made over 2.9 billion naira in less than 2 years just from Amassco and AZ Lubricants before they were caught.

As if this was not enough, Amadi and his wife were so audacious as to register another company—an audacity that was the Achilles heel that led to their downfall.

The new company formed by the couple was appointed as a distributor by Oronite, owned by Chevron, and Oronite is also in the business of formulating base oils and additives , which is exactly what Lubrizol, the foreign partner of Amadi's employer abroad, is into.

Worried that a competitor was about to eat into their market share and an insider was sharing market secrets with them, Eunnisell's foreign partner sent a query to their Nigerian distributor Eunisell to inquire who owned A.B.D. Energy Solutions Ltd.

Amadi, knowing he had been caught, was evasive and refused to provide his boss, Ikenga, with information on who owns A.B.D. Energy Solutions Ltd., the new distributor of base oil for Oronite.

Having run out of options as Amadi was not forthcoming, his boss, Ikenga, was forced to involve his lawyers to do a search for him on who owned the company at the CAC.

The search was a bombshell that Ikenga did not see coming.

The new company belonged to his employee, Amadi, and his wife.

Before that time, Amadi had been going to the research, development, and technology departments of his company’s suppliers in the United Kingdom for training.

The research center "was the heart of Eunicell's business, and it was discovered that Amadi was sharing privileged market information gotten from the research center with Oronite."

It was on that basis that he was appointed a distributor in Nigeria, and that is what made the foreign supplier of his employer demand to know the owner of the Nigerian distributor appointed by their competitor.

How Amadi's fraud was exposed

Walk with me as we continue.

Amadi was confronted with the information that he owned that company, a competing company that was recently appointed as a Nigerian distributor.

He resigned in November 2016 because of this, and an audit was carried out to reconcile the accounts of the big companies like AZ Lubricants, which he was managing.

Listen to Amadi's boss, Ikenga, as he explains further.

Ikenga stated that the audit revealed that payments that had been coming into Amadi's company bank account were from Amascco and AZ Lubricants.

Ikenga said he wrote to the bank explaining why the payment coming into his company’s account did not have a narrative or details of the buyers.

The bank (Diamond Bank, now Access) wrote back to him, giving the details of the payers, who were Amadi and IDID.

"On further search at the Corporate Affairs Commission, it was revealed that IDID Nigeria Limited was owned by Amadi and his wife, who were both directors and shareholders."

Ikenga said he reported it to the police, and the police investigation revealed that Amadi was receiving payment from A-Z Petroleum and Ammasco International for the goods that his company, Eunisell, sold to them.

Ikenga said the company sent goods to A-Z Petroleum and Ammasco International via waybill, and the company gave Amadi the invoices to send to them, of which Amadi would give the customers his own bank account and retain the money paid into it for a while before remitting it.

Amadi's boss also claimed that his job role as Chief Executive Officer did not empower him to pay this money into his account as he had no mandate to do so.

Ikenga claims that he wrote to his bankers because the payment was coming without details of the payer, and it was discovered that the persons paying money into the bank account were Amadi and IDID, who received the money from his two main customers, A-Z Petroleum and Ammasco International, totaling over N2.9b.

According to Ikenga, Amadi left the company when the audit of the company was conducted because of the first conflict of interest. Based on the letters from the bank, other customers, and the investigation, Ikenga stated that the defendant had betrayed their trust as he used his position and information about his business to the benefit of Eunisell’s competitors.

Ikenga told the court that Amadi used Eunisell’s funds to operate IDID. He alleged that Amadi altered the invoices to Ammasco and A-Z Petroleum to enable him to receive Eunisell’s payment "without authority, mandate, or approval and by diverting funds to build up the profile and credibility of the defendant." Ikenga also testified that Amadi forged documents in order to carry out fraudulent activities.

Ikenga further testified that Amadi made payments into the company’s account without narratives from January 1, 2016 to October 28, 2016, and from January 2012 to December 31, 2015, which were discovered during the police investigation. He stated that what was reflected in the bank statement as manager’s checks MC/Ammasco and also MC/A-Z Petroleum were not from A-Z Petroleum as they were paid in by Amadi and IDID. He alleged that N2.9b was diverted from his customers by Amadi.

He further testified that the firm did not really audit its banking activities because "they trusted Amadi, who will always inform them whenever a customer makes a payment."

Amadi's world came crashing down as he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and his alter-ego company was liquidated by the court.

The case went to court in 2017, and it took six years for Daniel to come to justice.

A classic example of what many Nigerian businesses are going through in the hands of their employees and why trust deficits are high and rife among many big men and women

You don’t blame them; the Amadis of this world have taught them a lesson, a painful one so it is difficult to trust again.

Credit: Chukwudi Iwuchukwu

You can all see why God sent Lucifer on errands when he was creating man. The goal.is not to build with people in good times and enjoy the moment. The goal is to build and anticipate betrayal. No be everything worker eyes suppose see.

Abrhama telling his steward to wait behind while he and Issac went further too is likewise basis. It is inmate in humans to betray. I always keep my back guarded at all times. All times.