The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested an Abuja-based businessman, Innocent Ozoemena Ezuma, 57, over allegations of defrauding a Ukrainian investor of more than $120m and a separate claim that he shot and seriously injured a business partner in Ukraine.
Innocent Ozoemena Ezuma was arrested at his residence in Abuja on Monday, October 19, and remained in the commission’s custody as of Tuesday.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed the arrest but declined to provide further details about the investigation.
Sources familiar with the case said 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.
According to one of the sources, Ezuma allegedly collected millions of dollars from a Ukrainian investor between 2007 and 2015 to finance 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 allegedly linked to the businessman, including his children.
The investigation is also said to cover Ezuma’s previous business dealings in Nigeria and Ukraine, with the EFCC reportedly seeking information from members of the public and his former associates.
In a separate allegation, Ezuma was accused of shooting and seriously injuring one of his business partners during a confrontation in Ukraine on April 28, 2008.
According to a source, the businessman allegedly fled to Nigeria after the incident.
The businessman was also accused of using funds from two Ukrainian businessmen to secure control of the Jos Steel Rolling Mill in Plateau State during the privatisation process in the mid-2000s.
The source alleged that Ezuma persuaded the two men to finance the deal before taking exclusive control of the facility, stripping it of assets and abandoning hundreds of workers without their wages.
The EFCC is reportedly investigating the allegations as it examines the businessman’s financial dealings and transactions involving companies and individuals connected to him.
Oyewale reiterated that Ezuma was arrested at his Abuja residence on Monday but declined to comment further on the case.
The allegations have not been established in court, and the details of the ongoing investigation remain limited.
