Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested an Abuja-based businessman, Innocent Ezuma, 57, for allegedly defrauding a Ukrainian investor of more than $120m.
EFCC operatives arrested Ezuma at his residence in Abuja on Monday, October 19, and he remained in the commission’s custody as of Tuesday.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the arrest on Tuesday but didn’t provide further details.
We, however, gathered that the businessman was being investigated for alleged advance fee fraud, criminal breach of trust, criminal conversion, obtaining money under false pretences, theft and money laundering.
One of the sources said Ezuma allegedly obtained millions of dollars from the Ukrainian investor between 2007 and 2015 for mineral exploration and power projects that were never delivered.
The source alleged that the funds were diverted for personal use, while investigators were examining transfers worth billions of naira to companies and individuals linked to the businessman, including his children.
It was learnt from another source that the anti-graft agency was expanding its investigation and seeking information from members of the public and the businessman’s former associates.
The allegations, it was learnt, also concerned Ezuma’s previous business dealings in Ukraine and Nigeria.
“In the mid-2000s, he allegedly persuaded two Ukrainian businessmen to finance the privatisation of Jos Steel Rolling Mill in Plateau State before taking exclusive control of the facility, stripping it of assets and abandoning hundreds of workers without wages,” the source said.
The businessman was also accused of shooting and seriously injuring one of his business partners during a confrontation in Ukraine on April 28, 2008, before fleeing to Nigeria, it was learnt.
The EFCC spokesperso reiterated that the agency arrested Ezuma at his Abuja residence on Monday.
He, however, declined to disclose further details about the investigation.
