A 29-year-old man, Henry Ogu, has been arrested by Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police
Force, Ikoyi, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding an American citizen (name
withheld) of $350000. His accomplice, 42-year-old Yunusa Okonkwo, was also
arrested in connection with the fraud. A statement by the SFU Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ngozi Isintume-Agu, said the unit had received a petition via
email from Henry Ogu’s victim. “The victim, a US citizen resident in New
Jersey, alleged that sometime in April 2013, she met Henry Ogu on a dating site
and both started a relationship which lasted for months until the suspect
manipulated and made her to believe that he was in financial trouble in
Nigeria. “She further stated that she sent $350,000.00 to the two account
numbers that Henry Ogu provided. The account numbers were Skye Bank Account Number 36204796 and Ecobank account No. 04087350 belonging to Faneece
Business Services International.”
Police investigation reportedly revealed that the
account belonged to Okonkwo of No. A1 Giwa Road, U/Muazu, Kaduna, where he was
subsequently arrested. Upon his arrest, Okonkwo was said to have led police
detectives to apprehend Henry Ogu, the principal suspect. Okonkwo, a patent medicine dealer and Bureau De Change operator
confessed that he was the account holder of Faneece Business Services International and admitted that he had provided his two bank accounts
for the illicit transactions. “He also said Henry Ogu had
provided him with his account number, where he transferred the money after
converting it to Nigeria currency.
He gave Henry
Ogu’s account details as Diamond Bank account No. 0021206871 with Ogu also corroborated the victim’s statement that they had met on a
dating site in January 2013 and started communicating via e-mails. Ogu confessed that he deceived the victim into believing that he wanted
to marry her, but was stranded in Nigeria and needed financial assistance. He said that he had spent all the money; $60,000 was used to
purchase a heavy duty generator which has been recovered by the police.
He had also purchased a plot of land for $5,500 along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway,
Nigeria. A cash sum of $13,400 was also recovered from him.
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