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Middleman in love scam lands in jail

A man caught in the middle of an Internet love scam has been sent to prison, after the victim was defrauded of more than Dh20,000.

The Nigerian man, who was arrested by the police as he tried to pick up more cash, has been sentenced by Abu Dhabi criminal court to one and a half years in jail to be followed by deportation, after being convicted of swindling, forgery and posing as an untrue character. Khaleej Times carried the initial story in December, which described the fall of an Arab man — an ‘Internet Casanova’ — who was fooled by a woman he met in a chat room, handing over the $5,730 (Dh21,046).

The woman presented herself as an Arab residing in an European country. She told the man she was well-off and good-looking but the victim did not believe the woman till they had a video chat. After talking with the man several times, the woman told him she had $11 million deposited in a big financial institution and wanted to get the term deposit broken, but needed to pay a fee of $5,730 to break it.

The woman promised the man she would pay him 20 per cent of the $11 million once she got access to it. The victim agreed to the deal and arranged the cash, handing it over to the Nigerian middleman who collected it on the woman’s behalf. The man posed as a diplomat, doctor and a family friend of the woman.

However, before long the woman asked the victim for a further $26,000 after she claimed the financial institution had ordered her to the said amount in taxes.

He promised to arrange the cash, but instead reported the matter to the police who laid a trap and caught the convicted middleman. — news@khaleejtimes.com