Police arrest 20-year-old man in Lagos over ‘N1bn international romance scam’

Police have arrested Essien Emmanuel Akpama, a 20-year-old international romance fraud suspect, over an alleged scam involving more than N1 billion.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mohammed Adeola, spokesperson of the airport police command, Lagos, said Akpama was arrested on Monday, January 5, by operatives of the anti-fraud unit while attempting to board a flight.

Adeola said the arrest followed “months of intensive intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring based on credible information”.

Akpama is accused of defrauding multiple victims in the United States of America through romance and celebrity scam schemes, with losses running into over one million US dollars.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos State on February 23, 2024, from where he coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes,” the statement reads.

The police spokesperson said in one instance in 2024, Akpama allegedly deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the US into transferring one million dollars under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.

Adeola said the funds were solicited through a cryptocurrency scheme known as “BullRun 2.0”, formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money”.

Adeola said the suspect posed as “a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria”, claiming the devices were needed to maintain secure communication with his victim.

He added that Akpama allegedly defrauded another 70-year-old female victim in the US of N25,709,400, the equivalent of $18,000, through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones, and computer equipment shipped to Nigeria at his direction.

Items recovered from the suspect include a MacBook Pro 14-inch, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices, and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, valued at N8,141,367.

Adeola said the case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) special fraud unit for further investigation, adding that the suspect will be arraigned in court at the conclusion of investigations.(The Cable)