Nigerian socialite Henry Ikeji rejects $2.5m romance scam claims

Nigerian socialite Nzube Henry Ikeji has denied allegations linking him to an online romance and investment scam said to have defrauded a Romanian woman of $2.5 million.

In an interview with AIT on Wednesday, Ikeji described the accusations as a targeted effort to tarnish his reputation, insisting the matter was being misrepresented in public discourse.

“The money was paid to me from a naira account. While I’m explaining this and saying all this, I feel like there is a targeted plan to destroy my reputation because, as it stands now, nobody believes me,” Ikeji said. “All my friends have flown away; everybody now is calling me a criminal. All over the internet, it’s circulating that I scammed a Romanian woman.”

Business Hallmark had reported that the allegations surfaced following an investigative documentary by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which claimed Ikeji impersonated the Dubai Crown Prince in a sophisticated online romance‑cum‑investment fraud.

Nigeria’s National Cybercrime Centre is reviewing the documentary and analysing information in the public domain.

No formal charges have been filed against Ikeji, and it remains unclear whether the purported victim has lodged a complaint with authorities in Nigeria or abroad.