Henry Ikeji, Nigerian businessman, has denied allegations that he posed as a Dubai Crown Prince to defraud Romanian woman, after he was arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The financial commission had gone after the businessman because Henry had allegedly posed as the Crown Prince of Dubai to defraud a Romanian businesswoman of $2.5 million in a romance and humanitarian investment scam.
Who is Henry Ikeji?
Henry Ikeji is a Nigerian businessman of Igbo origin but resides in Abuja. Ikeji’s background and education are not publicly known at the moment.
Henry Ikeji age
Henry Ikeji is 31 years of age.
What Henry Ikeji did
A video showed how he reportedly pretended to be the real Crown Prince of Dubai and developed a romantic relationship with Laura, a Romanian businesswoman, in order to rob her of $2.5 million.
After hearing the documentary, a second apparent victim of the scam came forward to Context.ro, the Romanian member center of OCCRP. Context was supplied by Ana, who is also Romanian.with records showing she was the target of the identical operation that resulted in Laura’s debt.
The Romanian businesswoman was contacted on Linkedin by Ikeji, who purportedly pretended to be the Dubai Prince, and expressed interest in funding humanitarian initiatives in her home country. After that, he began an internet romance and even went so far as to propose marriage, persuading her to cover the cost of their engagement as needed by the so-called custom.
Later, the fictitious prince sent the Romanian, whom OCCRP only knew by her first name Laura, instructions to see his financial manager, Dr. Martins Abhulimhen, in London under the guise of Dr. Mathew Croos.
Laura sent more than $2.5 million to the suspected con artists over a two-year period; the London Metropolitan Police tracked the money to Abhulimhen’s UK accounts and Ikeji’s Nigerian accounts.
How Laura realised Henry Ikeji was fraud
ENigeria Newspaper gathered that after Ikeji succeeded in getting that huge amount, Laura later got the hold of his dubious acts throught Ikeji’s associate. The fictitious prince had associates who assisted with the money transfer, but they couldn’t agree on how to split the scam’s profits. In the end, they got in touch with Laura, disclosing the scam and the true name of the impostor prince, Nzube Henry Ikeji.
How Henry Ikeji was tracked down
In February of 2026, having being equipped with videos of Ikeji at his recently acquired residence in Abuja, OCCRP reporters went to Nigeria to track down the con artist.
By March, Chikezie Omeje of OCCRP used antiquated techniques to find Ikeji’s mansion because Nigeria lacks comprehensive property registries and Google Street View coverage. He spent days driving around Abuja until he identified the matching mansion. Afterwards, OCCRP released a documentary exposing his online fraud operation.
How Henry Ikeji was arrested by EFFC
A week after the release of the documentary, EFCC announced that it has arrested Henry Ikeji.
“Within a week of the release of an OCCRP documentary exposing an online fraud operation, Nigerian authorities arrested a man allegedly involved in the scheme, while another apparent victim of the same scam came forward in Romania. In our documentary, Exposed: Fake ‘Dubai Prince’ Tracked to Nigeria, reporters identified Nzube Henry Ikeji, 31, who was afterwards taken into custody”,OCCRP confirmed in an update.
Henry Ikeji and Kayode Egbetokun
A Sahara Reporters Report disclosed that former Inspector General of Police might have had something with Henry Ikeji. Egbetokun allegedly gave the IT department and outside social media handlers explicit instructions to delete any images and postings that connected him to Henry Ikeji, especially on Instagram, as soon as word of his news spread.
According to a source, the IGP directed immediate action to clean up his digital trail while simultaneously ordering an internal investigation to identify personnel suspected of communicating to the media.
Henry Ikeji’s connection with Dr. Martins Abhulimhen, Obi Cubana and others
Although the nature of Henry Ikeji and Dr. Martin Abhulimhen’s relationship is unclear, both appear to have a close relationship and have been photographed with influential individuals in Nigeria and overseas, such as Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Chief of Staff to President Femi Gbajabiamila, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, among others.
Along with Arthur Eze and other powerful Nigerians, photo evidences have shown that the alleged con artists also interacted with Cubana Chief and Obi Cubana.
Henry Ikeji denial of allegations
Henry Ikeji’s media adviser, Karen James, released a statement to say that the arrest was a mistaken identity. James claimed that allegations that he was involved in posing as a Dubai royal are refuted by the commission’s own investigation’s conclusions.
He went on to explain that although the EFCC had linked him to a total of N155,186,500, the money had come from his legitimate business ventures.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s investigation report shows he isn’t the culprit in the Dubai Crown Prince Impersonation scandal.
“Of all allegations linking him to a supposed Dubai Crown Prince case, only the sum of N155,186,500 million was traced to Mr Henry Nzube Ikeji, which he said is proceeds of his business.
“He also provided his MoU agreement registered with Notary Public of Nigeria, to show the genuineness of his business deals.”
Henry Ikeji foundation
Ironically, a foundation named Nzube Ikeji Foundation is founded by Henry Ikeja. It is a humanitarian organization that aims to serve the less fortunate. The creator frequently speaks about dedicating resources to aid the underprivileged.
