5th September, 2014
By Eromosele Ebhomele
A 75-year old Dutch woman, Jeanet De Jonge, is currently grieving after she was scammed of 200,000 euros by a Nigerian, who pretended to be in love with her.
On an exchange rate of one euro to N209, the total amount swindled by Adio Opeyemi Michael, 31, in the romance scam is put at N41.8 million.
Adio, who the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, called a “confidence trickster,” is said to be an indigene of Owu Local Government Area of Ogun state, western Nigeria.
Adio, now in a detention facility of the anti-graft agency, allegedly met the victim on Netlog, a dating site on the internet where he pretended to be a 41-year old American citizen, working as a chef in a Nigerian restaurant and needed a wife.
The profile attracted Jeanet, who did not know that the profile was an impersonation of the owner of the photograph.
In no time, she began sending him money through Western Union and Money Gram.
In a confessional statement to the EFCC, Adio narrated that Jeanet “was sending me money monthly, ranging from $800 to $900 from June 2012, through Western Union Money transfer and Money Gram to the extent that Western Union blocked her from sending money to me in Nigeria.
“So she requested that I should go to London to enable her send me money there.
“I contacted a friend of mine in London called Osas Odiah, so that he can receive the money and send to me here in Nigeria.
“She first sent 2000 euros to my friend’s account in London, and later to my Keystone bank account, which was actually a Forex Trade account.
“We started using this account when we discovered that my friend was not remitting all the money sent by Jeanet to me.”
EFCC said its investigations revealed that the Adio collected the various amounts of money under the pretext that he was going to use the money to perfect his travel plans and obtain the required documents that would enable him travel to Holland to join or visit Jeanet.
“But his inability or refusal to honour the invitation from Jeanet prompted the petition to EFCC,” the anti-graft body said on Thursday adding that it would soon ensure the arraignment of Adio.