EFCC Arraigns Ufoma Joseph Immanuel Over Alleged $1.5 Million Petroleum Investment Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arraigned Ufoma Joseph Immanuel, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited and also CEO of Chappal Energies, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

Immanuel was docked alongside his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery. The anti-graft agency disclosed this in a statement issued shortly after the proceedings.

According to the EFCC, the 46-year-old Edo State indigene allegedly induced Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Limited to part with $1.5 million (about N2.9 billion) between April 2022 and October 2023 under the guise of investing in petroleum-related projects. The funds were described as “Cash and or Capital Cost in Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited; Business Development Cost in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited; Capital and or Capital Call in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited.”

One of the charges reads: “UFOMA JOSEPH IMMANUEL and INTERMEDIATE INVESTMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED between April 2022 and October 2023 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, induced Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Limited to deposit the total sum of $1,500,000 as investment described as ‘Cash and or Capital Cost in Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited; Business Development Cost in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited; Capital and or Capital Call in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited’ on the understanding that R28 Holdings Limited will be reimbursed the investment amount, paid a development capital fee of $2,250,000, and allotted 22.4% shares in Intermediate Investment Holdings Limited, which representation you knew to be false.”

The second count accused him of forging a “TERM SHEET” purportedly signed by Sherrif Oluwo and Olaniran Osotuyi to facilitate the inducement.

Immanuel pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecution counsel Babatunde Sonoiki urged the court to fix a trial date and prayed that the defendant be remanded in the custody of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) pending the conclusion of investigations, after which he would be moved to a correctional facility ahead of his bail application.

In a dramatic twist during the proceedings, Sonoiki alleged that defence counsel Oluseun Awonuga, SAN, physically assaulted his colleague Emenike Mgbemele at the staircase on March 2, 2026, while attempting to serve court processes on the defendant. The prosecutor said a video evidence of the incident would be tendered before the court.

Awonuga did not respond to the assault claim but informed the court that he had filed a preliminary objection dated January 5, 2026, citing an earlier Federal High Court order restraining the EFCC from arresting his client. The prosecution countered that the ruling was delivered in a civil matter that was later withdrawn and did not apply to the ongoing criminal case, citing Supreme Court precedents that allow simultaneous civil and criminal proceedings.

As previously reported by NaijaChoice News, the EFCC had in November 2025 declared Ufoma Joseph Immanuel wanted in connection with similar allegations of obtaining money by false pretence and forgery, describing him as a 46-year-old Edo State indigene with a last known address at 77 Nelson Mandela Street, Maitama, Abuja.

Justice Mojisola Dada adjourned the matter to May 7, 2026, for ruling on the preliminary objection and ordered that the defendant be remanded in INTERPOL custody pending the completion of investigations. He will subsequently be transferred to a correctional centre for the hearing of his bail application.

The case has once again brought to the fore the EFCC’s renewed crackdown on suspected investment scams in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, with the commission vowing to ensure that justice is served in the matter.