An Anambra-based billionaire businessman, Chief Kenneth Ejiofor Ifekudu, has allegedly been defrauded of over ₦2.28 billion in a scheme involving false promises of contract awards linked to the North East Development Commission (NEDC).
Chief Ifekudu, popularly known as Agbalanze Ozubulu of Ekwusigo Local Government Area, is the Managing Director of Diamond Leeds Limited, a construction and infrastructure firm with a long track record of projects spanning roads, bridges, electrification, borehole drilling and solar-powered lighting across several communities.
Widely regarded for his quiet philanthropy and community development efforts, Ifekudu is known more for tangible impact than public flamboyance. Over the years, his contributions to Ozubulu and surrounding areas—through road construction, solar street lighting and other social interventions—have earned him deep respect at the grassroots.
However, between 2022 and 2024, prosecutors allege that the businessman fell victim to an elaborate fraud. According to charges currently before the court, Prince Chibuike Echem, an Anambra indigene from Ogbunka in Orumba North Local Government Area, allegedly obtained the funds under false pretences.
Prince Echem is accused of claiming he had the influence and capacity to facilitate the award of lucrative contracts under the NEDC’s Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery and Stability Programme (NERSP) to companies linked to Chief Ifekudu, as well as oversee the execution of such projects. Acting on these representations, Chief Ifekudu allegedly released large sums of money, only to later discover that the promised contracts were fictitious.
Sources close to the matter describe the incident not merely as a failed business deal but as a deep personal betrayal, rooted in shared ethnic and regional ties and an assumption of mutual trust.
The defendants have since been arraigned and remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre, pending the continuation of trial. The case has drawn significant public attention, with many observers expressing hope that justice will be served as the legal process unfolds.