A Nigerian man has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for defrauding a 75-year-old Dutch woman.
31-year-old Adio Opeyemi Michael is alleged to have obtained N42,056,984 (€200,000) from one Jeanet De Jonge under false pretences.
News of his arrest was disclosed by the EFCC via a press statement. It read:
Adio allegedly met the victim on the ‘Net log’ dating site and pretended to be a 41-year-old American citizen, working as a chef in a Nigerian restaurant and needs a wife. The profile
attracted Jeanet and, in no time, began sending him money through Western Union and Money Gram.
“She was sending me money monthly, ranging from $800 to $900 from June 2012, through Western Union Money transfer and Money Gram to the extent that Western Union blocked her from sending money to me in Nigeria.
So she requested that I should go to London to enable her send me money there. I contacted a friend of mine in London called Osas Odiah, so that he can receive the money and send to me here in Nigeria.
She first sent €2000 to my friend’s account in London, and later to my Keystone bank account, which was actually a Forex Trade account. We started using this account when we discovered that my friend was not remitting all the money sent by Jeanet to me,” the suspect revealed.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect collected the various sums under the pretext that he was going to use the money to perfect his travel plans and obtain the required documents that would enable him travel to Holland to join or visit Jeanet. But his inability or refusal to honour the invitation from Jeanet prompted the petition to EFCC.
The suspect will be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is concluded.
The statement was released on September, 4 2014 by the commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren.
