Nzube Henry Ikeji, a Nigerian socialite, reportedly impersonated the Crown Prince of Dubai to swindle a Romanian businesswoman out of $2.5 million in a scheme involving romance and humanitarian investments.
The claim is included in a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
A documentary released by OCCRP reveals that the scam began approximately three years ago when a Romanian entrepreneur named Laura received a message on LinkedIn from someone pretending to be the Crown Prince of Dubai.
The OCCRP probe indicated the impersonator expressed to the woman his wish to invest in a humanitarian initiative in Romania via her.
The report indicated that the two began chatting on social media, resulting in a kind of romantic relationship.
After a while, Ikeji requested Laura to meet his financial manager in London to assist in setting up an account with a UK bank.
In one of their meetings, Laura requested a business partner to capture a photo of the individual introduced as the financial manager.
She was later provided with login information for a bank account, where she noticed a deposit exceeding £200,000, but later found out that the account was a clone and the money was not genuine.
When Laura tried to take out some funds, she got an email asking for a substantial fee before the money could be accessed.
The Romanian entrepreneur deposited over $2.5 million into the account before she started worrying about how to get her funds back.
The probe uncovered that Ikeji’s accomplices eventually disagreed on dividing the profits from the operation. Due to the disagreement, two of the supposed partners contacted Laura and revealed the specifics of the fraud.
When Laura challenged the impostor pretending to be the Dubai Crown Prince regarding the allegations made by his associates, he allegedly responded that they aimed to foster animosity between them.
The Romanian entrepreneur eventually understood that she had fallen victim to a scam and started requesting a refund, yet her attempts were in vain.
His accomplice revealed to Laura the true identity of the impersonating Dubai Crown Prince, providing the name “Nzube Henry Ikeji,” and also shared a video of him in what he claimed was his recently purchased mansion.
The OCCRP team journeyed to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, to connect with journalist Chikezie Omeje in pursuit of the impersonator claiming to be the Dubai Crown Prince.
By examining Ikeji’s Instagram account and his wife’s, the investigators gathered clues on how to locate him.
They found out that Ikeji was showcasing his riches on Instagram.
Videos on his Instagram account reveal that he previously visited London with his wife and son, purchasing luxury items from the Louis Vuitton store, such as high-end wristwatches and a vehicle.
A video on his Instagram account features him tossing bundles of naira while Davido, a Nigerian music star, performs in Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
At first, the authorities stated they could not find the home of the individual impersonating the Dubai Crown Prince.
An Instagram post from his wife about their new mansion in Abuja offered the initial clue.
Eventually, the impostor Dubai Crown Prince shared an image of himself with one of Nigeria’s largest property developers.
Omeje mentioned that he spent several days exploring Abuja to examine the developer’s estate and contrast it with the pictures and videos of the mansion shared by the impersonator.
Omeje subsequently found the residence of the individual impersonating the Dubai Crown Prince in Abuja.
Omeje went up to the man pretending to be the Dubai Crown Prince in the Abuja mansion and inquired if he was familiar with Laura from Romania. He claimed he didn’t know her.
When asked whether he had informed Laura that he was the Crown Prince of Dubai, he replied by challenging the journalist’s source.
Following a number of inquiries, he questioned the journalist about how he had managed to enter his home.
When asked about “Dr. Martins Abhulimhen” and if Dr. Martins transferred money to him from the UK, he stated that such questions should be directed to his attorney.
The inquiry found that Laura contacted the United Kingdom (UK) police with the picture her partner captured during a meeting with the financial manager in London.
The financial manager was subsequently recognized as Martins Abhulimhen.
The UK police allegedly notified her that Abhulimhen was being investigated for questionable funds, which just so happened to be Laura’s money.
It was reported that funds were transferred from Abhulimhen’s UK account to Ikeji’s account in Nigeria.
Ikeji has since been arrested while investigation is ongoing.
