EFCC ARRESTS ABUJA BUSINESSMAN INNOCENT EZUMA OVER ALLEGED $120 MILLION INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT FRAUD

Anti-graft agency detains 57-year-old suspect at Abuja residence following petitions detailing advance fee fraud, asset diversion, and cross-border money laundering involving Ukrainian investors

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested an Abuja-based businessman, 57-year-old Innocent Ozoemena Ezuma, over allegations of defrauding a Ukrainian investor of over $120 million in a scheme spanning nearly two decades.

Confirming the arrest, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale stated that Ezuma was taken into custody at his residence in Abuja and remains detained as investigators probe multiple petitions against him.

According to investigators, the suspect allegedly obtained tens of millions of dollars from foreign investors between 2007 and 2015 under the pretense of executing mineral exploration and power sector projects across Nigeria that were ultimately never delivered.

The anti-graft agency is probing allegations of advance fee fraud, criminal breach of trust, criminal conversion, obtaining money under false pretenses, theft, and money laundering, focusing on the movement of billions of naira transferred into accounts linked to Ezuma's family members and corporate entities.

The widened probe also examines Ezuma’s business transactions involving the privatization of the Jos Steel Rolling Mill in Plateau State, where he reportedly persuaded Ukrainian investors to finance the acquisition before taking sole operational control, stripping assets, and abandoning workers.