Metro
Police trace ₦1bn romance scam to Lagos-based 20-Year-Old suspect
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested Essien Emmanuel Akpama, a 20-year-old suspected international romance fraudster, over an alleged scam involving more than ₦1 billion.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Mohammed Adeola, spokesperson of the Airport Police Command, Lagos, said Akpama was arrested on Monday, January 5, while attempting to board a flight.
Adeola said the arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance based on credible information linking the suspect to large-scale online fraud operations targeting victims in the United States of America.
According to the police, Akpama allegedly defrauded multiple victims through romance and celebrity scam schemes, with total losses estimated at over one million US dollars.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos on February 23, 2024, from where he coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes,” the statement said.
The police disclosed that in one instance in 2024, the suspect allegedly deceived a 47-year-old American woman into transferring $1 million under the pretence of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.
The funds were reportedly solicited through a cryptocurrency investment scheme known as ‘BullRun 2.0’, formerly called ‘4 Way Mirror Money’.
Adeola said Akpama posed as a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming that specialised communication devices were required to maintain secure contact with his victim.
In another case, the suspect allegedly defrauded a 70-year-old American woman of ₦25,709,400 (approximately $18,000) through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at his instruction.
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, with a combined estimated value of ₦8,141,367.
The police spokesperson said the case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, adding that the suspect will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.
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