A Nigerian socialite, Nzube Henry Ikeji, has been accused of impersonating the Crown Prince of Dubai in an elaborate romance and investment scam that allegedly defrauded a Romanian businesswoman of about $2.5m.
The allegation was detailed in an investigation by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which traced how the scheme unfolded over several years across multiple countries.
According to the report, the fraud began about three years ago when the Romanian woman, identified as Laura, was contacted on LinkedIn by a user claiming to be the Dubai Crown Prince.
The impostor reportedly told her he was interested in funding a humanitarian project in Romania and wanted to work with her to execute it.
Investigators said the exchanges soon moved to other social media platforms, where the conversations developed into what appeared to be a romantic relationship.
Laura was later asked to travel to London to meet the supposed prince’s financial manager to help open an account with a British bank.
During one of the meetings in London, Laura asked a business associate to discreetly take a photograph of the man introduced as the financial manager.
She was subsequently given login details to a bank account, where she saw what appeared to be a deposit of more than £200,000. She later discovered that the account was cloned and that the funds were fictitious.
When she attempted to withdraw part of the money, Laura reportedly received an email demanding that she pay a substantial fee before the funds could be released.
Over time, she transferred more than $2.5m, believing the transactions were part of the investment arrangement.
The OCCRP investigation revealed that disagreements later broke out among Ikeji’s alleged accomplices over how to share the proceeds. Two of them reportedly contacted Laura, revealing details of the fraud and exposing the scheme.
When confronted with the claims, the man posing as the Dubai Crown Prince allegedly dismissed them, accusing his partners of trying to turn Laura against him. It was only after repeated failed attempts to recover her money that Laura realised she had been scammed.
One of the disgruntled accomplices later disclosed the true identity of the impostor to Laura, naming him as Nzube Henry Ikeji, and also sent her a video purportedly showing his newly acquired mansion in Abuja.
As part of its investigation, the OCCRP team travelled to Nigeria and worked with Abuja-based journalist, Chikezie Omeje, to track Ikeji. Through social media posts by Ikeji and his wife, investigators said they found clues pointing to his lifestyle and location.
Videos on Ikeji’s Instagram account reportedly show him flaunting luxury items, travelling to London with his family, shopping at high-end stores and spraying bundles of naira at a public event during a performance by music star, Davido, in Asaba, Delta State.
After weeks of tracking properties linked to posts made online, Omeje said an Instagram update by Ikeji’s wife about a new mansion in Abuja provided a breakthrough. Further checks of estates associated with a major real estate developer eventually led to the identification of the residence.
When approached at the Abuja mansion, Ikeji reportedly denied knowing Laura or posing as the Dubai Crown Prince. He also questioned the journalist’s source of information and later declined to respond to further enquiries, saying such matters should be addressed by his lawyer.
The investigation further revealed that Laura had reported the case to UK authorities, submitting the photograph taken in London. The man in the image was identified as Martins Abhulimhen, the purported financial manager.
UK police reportedly told Laura that Abhulimhen was already under investigation over suspicious funds, which were traced to her transfers. Investigators said the money was later moved from Abhulimhen’s UK account to an account linked to Ikeji in Nigeria.
