No one at Seawave knew of loan from QIA to Lekoil, lawyers say

The plot around the fraudulent loan that sank shares of Nigerian oil company Lekoil thickened overnight after lawyers for the firm that allegedly brokered the transaction denied that it had played any role.

Shares of Lekoil plummeted at the start of the week after its management said that the $184.0m loan from the Qatar Investment Authority announced on 2 January was a sham perpetrated by individuals "masquerading" as representatives for that Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund.

According to Lekoil, the QIA alerted the company to the "complex facade" on 12 January. The next day the oil explorer also said that it remained cash-flow positive "at the operational level" and would seek alternative funding for developing OPL 310 licence "including reactivating other existing funding discussions".

Lekoil also said that it had sought advice from its UK legal counsel regarding the transaction, which was led by Bahamas-based Seawave Invest Limited.

Yet in remarks to Reuters, law firm Holowesko Pyfrom Fletcher told the newswire that no one at Seawave had any knowledge of the deal that had left Lekoil roughly $600,000 out of pocket and reportedly added that Seawave "was and has always been inactive".

Seawave representatives however welcome the investigation and said that they would remain available to the best of its abilities to assist.

As of 1200 GMT, shares of Lekoil were rising 5.84% to 3.08p.