The Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery has challenged fraud claims by a Nigeria-based shipping company in a crude oil transaction. The deal involving supplies to the refinery is currently being investigated by the BNI. The Diamond Shipping Company says it is yet to receive the 48 million dollars it is due for some 600 thousand barrels of crude it supplied to TOR in August last year. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, one Ofodeme Sylvester with Zikokem Nigeria, a company that claims to originally own the crude oil given to the shipping vessel said TOR wrongly paid another company, Refinee Petroplus for the cargo. “If you have paid [money] to somebody and other people come in to make a claim, what you need to do is to call those people you paid this money…and say ‘please we have paid you this money and this company is saying that they supplied [the product for which you were paid]’” he said. Mr Sylvester said they were waiting for the outcome of the BNI’s investigations into the matter. The TOR MD Ato Ampiah however denies owing the two firms, insisting they were never contracted to supply crude to the refinery. He accused officials of the Diamond Shipping Company and Zikokem Nigeria of peddling falsehood. Dr. Maureen of the Diamond Shipping Company however also maintains they supplied the cargo based on discussions she had with the TOR MD. She said she will seek advice from her lawyers as to the next line of action. Source: Joy Business/Ghana