A Nigerian socialite, Nzube Henry Ikeji, has been linked to an alleged romance and humanitarian investment fraud scheme in which a Romanian businesswoman was reportedly defrauded of $2.5 million after a suspect posed as the Crown Prince of Dubai.
The allegation was detailed in an investigation by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which said the scheme began about three years ago when the victim, identified as Laura, was contacted on LinkedIn by a user claiming to be the Dubai Crown Prince. According to the report, the impersonator told her he wanted to invest in a humanitarian project in Romania through her, and the conversations later developed into what appeared to be a romantic relationship.
OCCRP said the impostor eventually asked Laura to meet a man introduced as his financial manager in London, claiming it was necessary to facilitate the opening of an account with a British bank. During one of the meetings, Laura reportedly requested a business partner to take a photograph of the so-called manager, after which she was provided with login details to a bank account where she saw what appeared to be a deposit of more than £200,000.
However, the investigation claimed the bank platform was cloned and the displayed funds were not genuine. When Laura attempted to withdraw part of the money, she allegedly received an email demanding that she pay a large fee before any withdrawal could be processed. OCCRP said she transferred more than $2.5 million before becoming alarmed and attempting to recover the money.
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The investigation further revealed that Ikeji’s alleged accomplices later fell out over how to share the proceeds, and two of the reported partners eventually contacted Laura and disclosed details of the alleged fraud.When Laura confronted the impostor posing as the Dubai Crown Prince with the claims made by his partners, he reportedly told her that they wanted to create enmity between them.
The Romanian businesswoman later realised that she had been scammed and began demanding a refund, but her efforts yielded no results.
One of the aggrieved partners told Laura the real identity of the fake Dubai Crown Prince, giving his name as “Nzube Henry Ikeji”, and also sent her a video showing him at what he described as his newly acquired mansion.
