The trial of businessman Ifoma Immanuel over an alleged $1.5 million investment fraud continued this week before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presenting two prosecution witnesses to support its case.
Immanuel, alongside his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, is standing trial on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery. The EFCC alleged that he fraudulently induced businessman Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Limited to invest $1.5 million by claiming the funds would finance projects linked to Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited and Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited.
According to the anti-graft agency, the investment was backed by assurances that the funds would be repaid alongside a $2.25 million development capital fee and a 22.4 per cent equity stake in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited.
The defendants were arraigned 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, explaining that he had secured an investor interested in funding a business venture.
“The defendant informed me that he had an investor willing to invest in a business. At that time, the exchange rate was about N600 to one US dollar,” he testified.
He further told the court that Immanuel later sent payment instructions through WhatsApp, detailing how the funds should be distributed.
According to Adebayo, the defendant requested that $400,000 be paid into his personal account in Jersey Island and directed him to contact Sheriff Oluwo and Chikezie Evuluchkwu regarding where to remit the remaining $100,000.
“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,” the witness said.
However, Adebayo said he declined to transfer the money into a personal account, insisting instead that a corporate account be provided.
“We requested a corporate account, and the defendant nominated Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited. All proof of payment was sent to Ifoma Immanuel. He gave instructions regarding the $400,000 transfer and directed me to contact Sheriff Oluwo and Chikezie Evuluchkwu concerning the balance of $100,000,” he added.
On the second day of proceedings, the prosecution called Paul Olufemi, a compliance officer with Providus Bank, as its second witness.
Olufemi told the court that the bank received a letter from the EFCC on May 30, 2025, requesting account-opening documents and statements relating to the first defendant’s accounts.
According to him, the bank retrieved the requested records, printed them, certified the documents and prepared a covering letter in response to the commission’s request.
He identified the EFCC’s request letter, the bank’s response, the certificate of identification, account-opening documents and statements of account before seeking to tender them in evidence.
While counsel to the first defendant, Awah Kalu (SAN), did not oppose the documents, counsel to the second defendant, C. E. Wilson Okereke, challenged the admissibility of some of the exhibits, arguing that certain photocopied documents, including a Certificate of Incorporation, had not been properly certified.
Responding, prosecution counsel E. E. Iheanacho (SAN) maintained that the documents were official bank records and were properly certified by Providus Bank, making the witness competent to tender them.
Following the objection, the prosecution withdrew the disputed documents to regularise their status. Justice Dada granted the application and struck out both the EFCC’s request letter and the bank’s response from the list of exhibits.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until June 29, 2026, for the continuation of trial.
