Nigerian Fraudsters
Crime

How Nigerian Fraudsters Swindled $46 Million From Across the World

385

They were charming, cunning and manipulative – the ultimate conmen. They viewed the world as a giant game board, and people especially women – as mere trinkets to pick up and cast aside. Over three years, they stole millions of dollars from the vulnerable and the naive, using romance, lies and multiple identities to tear lives apart.

They stole life savings of the elderly, property rich and the vulnerable.

The relationship between a Japanese woman and a U.S. Army captain stationed in Syria started online, through an international social network for digital pen pals. It grew into an internet romance over 10 months of daily emails.

It ended with the woman $200,000 poorer and on the verge of bankruptcy after borrowing money from her sister, ex-husband and friends to help Capt. Terry Garcia with his plan to smuggle diamonds out of Syria.

In reality, there were no diamonds and there was no Garcia — they were part of an elaborate scam hatched by an international ring of cyber thieves operating mainly out of Los Angeles and Nigeria.

According to the Associated Press U.S Federal authorities cited the case of the Japanese woman, known only as “F.K.” in court papers, on Thursday when they announced an indictment charging 80 people with stealing at least $46 million through various schemes that targeted businesses, the elderly and anyone susceptible to a romance scam. Most of the defendants are Nigerians.

“We believe this is one of the largest cases of its kind in U.S. history,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna told a news conference. “We are taking a major step to disrupt these criminal networks.”

The investigation began in 2016 with a single bank account and one victim, said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office. It grew to encompass victims who were targeted in the U.S. and around the world, some of whom like the Japanese woman lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“F.K. was and is extremely depressed and angry about these losses,” the federal complaint states. “She began crying when discussing the way that these losses have affected her.”

Her relationship began innocently in March 2016 with an email but soon “Garcia” made “romantic overtures,” according to federal authorities. He told her they couldn’t talk by phone because he wasn’t allowed to use one in Syria.

So a stream of emails went back and worth, with her using Google to translate his English into her Japanese. A month into the relationship, Garcia told her he’d found a bag of diamonds in Syria and he began introducing her to his associates, starting with a Red Cross representative who told her Garcia had been injured but had given him the box.

F.K. ultimately made 35 to 40 payments, receiving as many as 10 to 15 emails a day directing her to send money to accounts in the U.S., Turkey and the United Kingdom through the captain’s many purported associates.

The fraudsters even threatened her with arrest if she did not continue to pay and at one point she traveled to Los Angeles because she was told a Russian bank manager had embezzled more than $33,000 of her funds.

Authorities arrested 14 defendants Thursday, mostly in the Los Angeles area. FBI agents could be seen processing suspects in a downtown Los Angeles parking lot before they were arraigned in federal court. It was not immediately known if they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.

Two suspects were previously in custody and a few others were arrested earlier this week. Hanna said he hoped to be able to work with foreign governments to extradite the remaining defendants.

They all face charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and aggravated identity theft, and some are charged with additional offenses for alleged fraud and money laundering.

Leave a comment

Related Articles

$4.5m money laundering:Three US-based Nigerians face up to 60 years in prison

Three US-based Nigerian nationals – Olumide Olorunfunmi, Samson Amos, and Emmanuel Unuigbe...

Lagos-Italy-based businessmen nabbed over illicit drug shipments to Europe, Nigeria

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made another bust in...

FCT Police Seize 488 pieces of AK-47 Rifles, Ammunition Hidden in Palm Oil Containers, Arrest Suspect

The FCT Police Command has made another significant breakthrough in its efforts...

NDLEA Seizes 72 Parcels of Heroin Disguised as Chocolates at Kano Airport, Arrests Indian National

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has achieved another major success...

NDLEA Intercepts Large Shipments of Cocaine, Opioids Bound for US, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Poland

In a major milestone efforts to combat international drug trafficking, the National...

Nigerian Customs Intercepts 1,149 Jerrycans of Smuggled Petrol Worth N37.8m

The Nigeria Customs Service has made a significant seizure, intercepting 1,149 jerrycans...

FCT Police neutralize infamous kidnapper Dogo Saleh

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command says it has achieved significant milestones...

FCT Police crack down on car theft, recover 19 stolen vehicles

The crackdown on car theft in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has...

Alleged $340,000 fraud: Court adjourns arraignment of Mercy Chinwo’s ex-Manager until May 14

A Federal High Court in Lagos has temporarily halted the arraignment of...

Kaduna Court Hands Down Death Sentence, Castration to Three Convicted Rapists

A Kaduna State Court has delivered a verdict sentencing three convicted rapists...

Alleged $1m, £34,500 theft: EFCC arraigns P-Square’s ex-manager, Jude Okoye

The prolonged dispute between Peter Okoye, formerly of the music group P-square,...

Angolan businessman excretes 120 cocaine wraps at Kano airport in latest NDLEA bust

The war against drug trafficking in Nigeria has intensified with the arrest...

Tragedy strikes as businessman kills wife in brutal attack over Ramadan meal

A tragic incident has occurred in Bauchi State, where a 24-year-old housewife...

Abuja Police Crackdown: 245 Suspects Apprehended, Hard Drugs, Weapons Seized

In a bid to rid the capital city of hard drugs and...

Fatal stabbing: Wife kills husband in Bauchi

Seized by rage, Salamatu Danjuma, a 25-year-old house wife and resident of...

Alleged N80.2bln fraud: Yahaya Bello’s name not on Abuja property documents – EFCC witness

Mr. Segun Adeleke, a witness produced by the Economic and Financial Crimes...

Alleged N80.2bln fraud: Ex-Kogi Gov.Yahaya Bello’s trial resumes amid tight security

The N80.2 billion money laundering trial of former Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello,...

NDLEA busts illicit drug shipments, 24-year-old Thai national at Lagos airport

In an intensified war against hard drugs in Nigeria, the National Drug...

Marital infidelity: Jealous police officer hacks wife to death as wife severs his genital

In a shocking and devastating turn of events, a violent altercation between...

FCT Police nab 23-year-old ex-convict for alleged brutal murder of acquaintance

Iliayasu Mohammed, a 23-year-old ex-convict from Dakwa in Abuja’s Municipal Area Council,...