By SCM Reporter
LAGOS — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has presented two key prosecution witnesses before a Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, in the ongoing trial of Ifoma Immanuel and his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, over an alleged $1.5 million fraud.
The witnesses, Babatunde Adebayo (PW1), a financial adviser, and Paul Olufemi (PW2), a compliance officer with Providus Bank, gave their testimonies on Tuesday, June 23, and Wednesday, June 24, 2026, respectively, before Justice Mojisola Dada.
The defendants are facing a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery involving $1.5 million. They had pleaded “not guilty” upon their arraignment by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate on March 11, 2026.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, PW1, Babatunde Adebayo, who was led in evidence by prosecution counsel Babatunde Sonoiki, detailed how he was approached by Immanuel in 2022 for financial assistance to fund 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,” Adebayo testified.
The witness explained that investigations later revealed the defendant allegedly induced Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Limited to invest $1.5 million.
The investment came with promises of reimbursement, a development capital fee of $2.25 million, and a 22.4 per cent equity stake in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited.
Adebayo further told the court that the defendant sent payment instructions via WhatsApp for the transfer of $500,000 into offshore accounts.
According to him, Immanuel initially requested that $400,000 be credited to his personal bank account on Jersey Island, while the remaining $100,000 was to be directed to accounts provided by two individuals, Sheriff Oluwo and Chikezie Evuluchkwu.
However, the financial adviser noted that he declined the request to use a personal account, insisting instead on a corporate account.
“We requested a corporate account, and the defendant nominated Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited. All proof of payment was sent to Ifoma Immanuel,” Adebayo stated, adding that transfers were subsequently facilitated to nominated accounts in the United States and Mauritius.
At the continuation of the trial on Wednesday, the prosecution called its second witness, Paul Olufemi, a compliance officer with Providus Bank.
Led in evidence by senior prosecuting counsel, E. E. Iheanacho, SAN, Olufemi confirmed that the bank received a statutory request from the EFCC on May 30, 2025, demanding account-opening documents and statements of account linked to the first defendant.
“We received the request and, after scrutinising it, retrieved and printed the account-opening documents and statements of account from our records. We also attached a certificate of identification duly certified by the bank,” Olufemi told the court.
While counsel to the first defendant, Awah Kalu, SAN, did not object to the documents being admitted as evidence, counsel to the second defendant, C. E. Wilson Okereke, raised strong objections.
Okereke argued that some of the documents were uncertified photocopies and contended that the Certificate of Incorporation of 107 Global Ventures, being a public document, required proper certification before it could be tendered.
Responding to the objection, Iheanacho, SAN, maintained that the documents originated directly from Providus Bank’s custody and that the witness was fully competent to tender them alongside the bank’s formal certification covering letter.
However, to avoid procedural delays and regularise the status of the evidence, the prosecution opted to withdraw the disputed documents.
Justice Dada subsequently granted the prosecution’s application, striking out the EFCC request letter and the Providus Bank response letter from the list of admitted exhibits.
The matter has been adjourned until June 29, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.