- Safiu Kehinde
The Airport Police Command, Lagos, has arrested a 20-year-old suspected fraudster over alleged N1 billion romance scam.
The supect identified as Essien Akpama was reportedly arrested for defrauding multiple victims in the United States of America of over $1 million which on conversion amounts to over N1 billion.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Command’s spokesperson, Mohammed Adeola.
According to the statement, Essien was arrested on Monday by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos State.
His arrest followed months of intensive intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring based on credible information.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos State on 23rd February 2024, from where he coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes.
In one instance in 2024, the suspect, through a celebrity scam modus operandi, deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring $1 million under the pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.
The funds were fraudulently solicited through a cryptocurrency scheme identified as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly known as “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Further investigations revealed that the suspect also defrauded another 70-year-old female victim in the United States of a total sum of N25.7 million, equivalent to $18,000.
The fraud was perpetrated through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile devices, and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s direction. Items recently recovered in connection with the case include one MacBook Pro 14-inch, one iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices, and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, collectively valued at N8.1 million.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect posed as a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were required to maintain secure communication with the victim.
Reacting to the arrest of the suspect, the Airport Command’s Commissioner of Police, Ogunbode Olufunke, reaffirmed the Command’s resolve to prevent criminal elements from exploiting airport corridors to evade justice.
She emphasized that the Command will continue to deploy intelligence-driven operations to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.
Meanwhile, the case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit (NPF-SFU) for further investigations, and suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.