21-year-old Cynthia dupes German ₦101m in romance scam – police
The Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos, has arrested a 21-year-old woman named Cynthia Atuonah for allegedly duping a German man of $220,000 (N101 million) in a romance scam.
According to SP Eyitayo Johnson, the spokesperson for PSFU, Atuonah posed as a model and the owner of a massage spa called “The-Chi-Place” on Instagram to lure her victim, a 50-year-old man.
“By pretending to have romantic feelings for him, Atuonah gained the victim’s trust and convinced him to emigrate to Nigeria to live with her as husband and wife. She even invited him to Nigeria on several occasions and introduced him to her parents, who gave their blessing for the two to marry.
“To further gain the victim’s trust, Atuonah persuaded him to sell his house in Stuttgart, Germany, and transfer the proceeds, along with his pensions and life savings, to her Fidelity Bank Plc domiciliary account. She told him the money would be used to buy a house in Nigeria where they could live together and start a joint business”.
According to Johnson, Atuonah admitted to receiving $220,000 from the victim, which she used to buy a two-bedroom terrace apartment in Zara Estate, Ikota Villa, Lekki Phase II. She also used some of the money to support her mother’s business and pay for her father’s medical bills.
The police spokesperson added that efforts were ongoing to recover the remaining proceeds of the crime. Atuonah will be charged in court as soon as the investigation is concluded.
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