A middle-aged man, Nwachi Chidozie Kingsley, has been arraigned for allegedly defrauding an American, Nicole Kierulff Sayers the sum of $373,000 on the pretext to marry her.
Kingsley was arrested by the crack detectives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sometimes in May 2022 at a secluded location in Abuja following an intelligence that he was involved in the Internet fraud.
A second prosecution witness, Okanne Kelechi, told Justice U.P. Kekemeke of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, that the head of advance fee fraud section had received the intelligence report after which actions were taken.
Kelechi, an operative of the EFCC, disclosed that the anti-graft agency's officers had recovered a plot of land; a twin duplex property located at No 1, Kemme Close, off NTA Road, Beside Royal Int'l Church Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the sum of $13,204, Lexus Ex 350 and Toyota Venza cars.
He explained to the court that investigations into the matter involved writing a letter of investigation of the defendant's activities to the Forensic Department of the EFCC, several local banks as well as the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, with the purported contract award letter attached.
City & Crime reports that the witness also said the victim alleged that the defendant lured her into a false marriage and defrauded her of her savings, adding that other American victims were Creig White and Helen Rees.
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The witness, who was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Fatsuma Muhammad disclosed that among the evidence against the defendant are "various fraudulent profiles in Linkedin which he admitted to creating."
Kelechi also said that there was a fraudulent contract award letter printed from his phone, adding that the same letter was sent to his American victim in chats claiming that the contract was awarded to him by the federal government.
He further told the court that a response from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing indicated that the award was not genuine, adding that the defendant admitted sending the fake contract award letter to Sayers and other foreign victims.
"We received our report from the Forensic Department and our findings for his gadgets. The victim, Nicole, also sent evidence of transactions received from international money transfer operators.
"From other analyses, we discovered that part of this money was sent into his bank account supervised by his sister, one Nwachi Doris Chinenye," he said.
Tendered in evidence against the defendant were certificate of identification, notice of nominal complaint with copies of intent to award contract and iPhone 11Pro Max.
The operative further informed the court that upon confronting the defendant with the evidence, his lawyers responded with a letter for a plea bargain.
Justice Kekemeke adjourned the matter till April 30, 2024 for continuation of trial.
