The High Court in Sierra Leone previously granted a sweeping order that effectively shut down an entire industrial park, displacing residents, halting unrelated businesses and raising alarm among international investors about property rights and judicial protection.

At the center of the controversy is Zhou Wenjie, a minority shareholder in PPE Company, who, despite holding just 10% of the company’s shares, secured a ruling that forced even the legal owner, Friendship International Company SL Limited, out of its own property. The decision has cast a spotlight on Zhou Wenjie’s alleged activities, with mounting evidence suggesting a disturbing pattern of fraud, forgery and corporate manipulation.

According to PPE’s majority shareholder, who controls roughly 90% of the company, Zhou Wenjie was dismissed from his managerial position in 2024 and no longer had executive powers. Yet, he allegedly continued to act without authority, signing contracts under the name of PPE’s Chief Executive Officer and operating bank accounts said to have been opened using forged signatures of two former major shareholders.

The company claims to have compiled evidence of those acts for the courts. Critics within the business community have described the court’s order as alarming, warning that allowing one shareholder’s dispute to paralyze entire companies threatens Sierra Leone’s investment climate. “If unrelated businesses can be closed and lawful owners denied access to their property because of a single shareholder’s dispute, then no investor can feel secure here,” one international businessman stated.

Further investigations, however, have unearthed an even deeper story of corporate betrayal. Testimonies and documents reviewed reveal that Zhou Wenjie has long been accused of fraudulent behavior, dating back to his time as General Manager of Pioneer Industry Company SL Limited in Cline Town and Pioneer Power Engineering Company SL Limited at Mile 5. Those companies, built over two decades by respected Chinese investor Zhang Ke and his wife, were allegedly taken over by Zhou Wenjie through forgery, deceit and intimidation. Evidence suggests that when Zhang Ke returned to China in 2019 to battle cancer, Zhou Wenjie began diverting revenues from the oxygen plant of Pioneer Industry Company into the accounts of Pioneer Power Engineering without Board approval, marking the beginning of what has been described as a systematic takeover.

Documents reportedly show that Zhou Wenjie orchestrated signature forgeries, using practice sheets found in company offices to falsify ownership papers. With those, he allegedly opened unauthorized bank accounts at Rokel Commercial Bank and Commercial Mortgage Bank, placing himself as the sole signatory and siphoning off funds in both leones and U.S. dollars. Witnesses claim Zhou Wenjie posed as Chief Executive Officer, signing contracts and diverting payments into fraudulent accounts under his control. The situation worsened after Zhang Ke’s death in December 2023, when his son and heir, Zhang Jiakai, discovered the two companies on the brink of collapse. Staff testimonies describe how employees and lawful tenants were forcibly removed from company properties, in what has been characterized as a hijacking of Zhang Ke’s life’s work.

Family members and former employees further alleged that Zhou Wenjie’s erratic behavior was compounded by violent intimidation, creating a climate of fear within the companies. Zhang Jiakai has since accused him of blatant theft and betrayal, demanding a full audit of bank records and prosecution under section 349 of Sierra Leone’s Penal Code for forgery and fraud. Prior to giving accessibility to Zhou Wenjie to enter the companies’ premise and bank accounts the courts froze the companies’ accounts and placed injunctions on their operations, underscoring the seriousness of the allegations.

The wider ramifications are significant. With the industrial park now closed, workers have lost jobs, businesses have been interrupted and lawful residents have been evicted, all due to a dispute they had no part in. Analysts warn that the case is more than a private legal battle; it is a test of Sierra Leone’s judicial credibility and its ability to protect legitimate investors. They argue that failure to resolve the matter fairly and decisively could damage the country’s reputation and deter the very international capital the government is working to attract.

After series of court appearances and adjournments, with Zhou Wenjie as plaintiff and Zhang Ke and Co as defendants, the matter which is before the High Court will come up again on the 19th August, 2025.

For now, the allegations against Zhou Wenjie stand as a troubling reminder of how unchecked corporate manipulation, if left unpunished, can destabilize businesses, destroy livelihoods, and undermine confidence in Sierra Leone’s investment environment.