Nigeria: Ukrainian investor defrauded by businessman, $120 million lost

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 57-year-old Innocent Ezuma at his Abuja home on October 19, 2026. He is suspected of misappropriating more than $120 million raised between 2007 and 2015 for mining and energy projects that were never completed, and of transferring billions of naira to companies and associates, including his children. Investigators are also examining the takeover of Jos Steel Rolling Mill in Plateau State, reportedly financed by two Ukrainian businessmen, after which Ezuma allegedly removed the company’s assets and left hundreds of workers unpaid. He is also accused of seriously shooting an associate in Ukraine in 2008.