By DEBORAH AKPEDE

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Airport Command, has apprehended a 20-year-old suspected celebrity scammer who allegedly defrauded multiple victims in the United States (U.S.) of over one billion naira.

The command’ spokesperson, ASP Mohammed Adeola, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

He said that the suspect was apprehended on Monday by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command, while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos State.

“The arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring based on credible information linking the suspect to several transnational fraud schemes.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously resided in Calabar, relocated to Lagos State on Feb. 23, 2024, from where he coordinated and executed multiple fraudulent operations targeting victims in the U.S.

“In one major case in 2024, the suspect 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.

“The funds were allegedly obtained through a cryptocurrency scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money”,” he said.

The spokesperson said that further investigations revealed that the suspect also defrauded another 70-year-old female victim in the US of 18,000 dollars

(N26 million).

“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 recovered in connection with the case 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 N8,141,367, ” he said.

Adeola said that further findings showed that the suspect posed as a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming that the devices were needed to maintain secure communications with the victim.

He said that the Command’s Commissioner of Police, Mrs Olufunke Ogunbode, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to blocking criminals from using airports as escape routes through intelligence-driven operations.

The image maker said that the Command would continue to deploy intelligence- driven operations to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.

According to him, the suspect and his casefile have been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit (NPF-SFU) for further investigation.

He said that he will be arraigned afterwards.

(NSN)

Update news