South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known simply as Hawks, have begun the trial of a 48 years old Nigerian accused of online dating scam.

According to reports from the country, the accused, one Christiano Ogbeinfun, allegedly fleeced “Several South African, Swedish and American victims” out of their money.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Philani Nkwalase said,

“We’re working with different authorities and we will investigate the South African victims. There are a lot of victims who lost their money.”

Ogbeinfun, 48, appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of fraud and money laundering and was not asked to plead.

It is alleged that he defrauded his victims in an online dating scam involving more than R4.1 million [about N99,818,600.00].

The state claims Ogbeinfun operated the dating site Badoo and created a profile of a very wealthy person.

His modus operandi was to lure victims into his scam once he had gained their confidence

Nkwalase said:

“The suspect allegedly lured mostly US-based victims through a dating site and after building a certain level of trust, the victims were tricked into paying the suspect for apparent business-related transactions, with the promise that the money would be paid back.”

The matter was postponed until today, August 7, to allow the suspect to arrange for legal representation. He remains in custody.

 

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