ALLEGED $1.5 MILLION FRAUD: EFCC PRESENTS TWO WITNESSES AGAINST BUSINESSMAN IN LAGOS COURT
By Aishat Momoh
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has presented two prosecution witnesses in the ongoing trial of businessman Ifoma Immanuel over an alleged $1.5 million investment fraud before the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja.
The witnesses, Babatunde Adebayo and Paul Olufemi, testified before Justice Mojisola Dada on June 23 and 24, 2026, respectively.
Immanuel and his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, are standing trial on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and forgery involving $1.5 million.
According to the EFCC, the defendant allegedly persuaded Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Limited to invest $1.5 million in purported projects linked to Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited and Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the investment was backed by assurances of reimbursement, a development capital fee of $2.25 million and a 22.4 per cent equity stake in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited.
The defendants were arraigned by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 on March 11, 2026, and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness, financial adviser Babatunde Adebayo told the court that he facilitated the transfer of $500,000 to accounts nominated by the defendant in the United States and Mauritius.
Adebayo said Immanuel approached him in 2022, claiming he had secured an investor interested in funding a business venture.
According to the witness, the defendant subsequently sent payment instructions via WhatsApp detailing how the funds should be disbursed.
“He forwarded his personal bank details in Jersey Island, where the sum of $400,000 was to be credited. He also directed me to confirm from Sheriff Oluwo and Chikezie Evuluchkwu where the balance of $100,000 should be sent,” Adebayo told the court.
The witness further stated that although Immanuel initially requested that the funds be paid into his personal account, the request was declined.
“We requested a corporate account, and the defendant nominated Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited. All proof of payment was sent to Ifoma Immanuel,” he testified.
The prosecution also called Providus Bank compliance officer Paul Olufemi as its second witness.
Olufemi told the court that the bank received a request from the EFCC on May 30, 2025, seeking account-opening documents and statements relating to the first defendant.
He said the bank complied by retrieving the requested records, including account-opening documents, statements of account and a certificate of identification duly certified by the bank.
During the proceedings, defence counsel Awah Kalu, SAN, raised no objection to the admissibility of the documents tendered by the witness.
However, counsel to the second defendant, C. E. Wilson Okereke, challenged the admissibility of some documents, arguing that certain photocopies had not been properly certified and that a Certificate of Incorporation tendered as evidence required proper certification.
Responding, prosecution counsel E. E. Iheanacho, SAN, maintained that the documents originated from Providus Bank and were tendered by a competent bank official with custody of the records.
Following the objections, the prosecution applied to withdraw the disputed documents in order to regularise their status.
Justice Dada granted the application and struck out the EFCC request letter and Providus Bank’s response letter from the list of exhibits.
The case was adjourned until June 29, 2026, for continuation of trial.
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