Nigerian dupes American lover of N52.5million

29 year old Henry Ogu (pictured right), an indigene of Amafor - Ishingwa Umuahia, Abia State and his accomplice, 42 year old Yunusa Okonkwo (pictured left) have been arrested by the Special fraud unit of the Lagos Police command following a petition they received from an American lady saying Henry duped her of N52.5million ($350,000), Punch reports.

A statement by the SFU Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ngozi Isintume-Agu, states that Henry met the American lady on a dating site sometime in January 2013 and they started a friendship which blossomed into an affair. Later Henry made her believe he was a director in an oil and gas company, called Raydeus Synergy Nigeria Ltd and was in a financial crisis. He asked the lady for assistance which she obliged and sent him $350,000. Continue...

The statement reads in part:

"The victim, a US citizen resident in New Jersey, alleged that sometime in April 2013, she met 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 Ogu provided.  The account numbers were Skye Bank Account Number 36204796 and Ecobank account No. 04087350 belonging to Faneece Business Services International ”.

With the account numbers provided by the American lady, the police traced the account number to be owned by one Yanusu Okonkwo, an indigene of a native of Amuri Nkanu West LGA of Enugu State who lived in Kaduna and was a patent dealer and ran a bureau de change

"Okonkwo 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 Ogu had provided him with his account number where he transferred the money after converting it to naira. He gave Ogu’s account details as Diamond Bank account No. 0021206871 with account name Raydeus Synergy Nigeria Limited. Okonkwo added that he had deducted his commission of N2 per dollar before paying the money to Ogu.”

"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; N9m was used to purchase a heavy duty generator which has been recovered by the police. He had also purchased a plot of land for N800,000 along the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.  A cash sum of N2m was also recovered from him. Investigation is ongoing. Effort is being intensified towards the recovery of the remaining money that was fraudulently obtained from the complainant or its proceeds. Suspects will be charged to court to serve as a deterrent to others. The Commissioner of Police, SFU, Mr. Umar Idris, uses this medium to reassure the public of the Unit’s commitment to fight internet fraudsters and advises that such cases should be promptly reported to the unit.” it read