Police bust money laundering networks involved in $2m fraud, arrest 8

By Kingsley Omonobi The Nigerian Police Force National Cybercrime Centre has busted an online investment fraud and romance scam syndicate and well as money laundering network involving the scamming of victims abroad of over $2million Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge NPF-NCCC, Akaniyene Ezima made this known while briefing on arrested suspects linked to digital and online cyber fraud in Abuja.

Ezima said, “The first case arose from intelligence shared by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA), a multinational initiative targeting online fraud networks and scam centres. ‘The intelligence indicated that social media accounts linked to a suspected transnational criminal network involved in fraudulent investment schemes targeting victims in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia and other jurisdictions were being operated from locations within Delta State, Nigeria.

“Acting on this intelligence, operatives of the NPF-NCCC, through coordinated investigation and digital forensic analysis, traced the locations to Agbor and Okpanam in Delta State, leading to the arrest of four suspects in October 2026. “The suspects are Ojei Divine, Godwin Umerin, Edema Bright and Peter Kpamichukwu Okoh. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects allegedly employed synthetic identities across social media and messaging platforms to target unsuspecting victims abroad. ‘One of the suspects, Ojei Divine impersonated professional investment traders by using facebook accounts bearing different IDs which included one Mariana Coman and redirected victims from Chatgroups which he created to fraudulent investment websites namely www.andescapitalgrouplc.com, www.navidargroupllc.com and www.stockbase.com.

“The websites presented themselves as investment and trading platforms on forex, cryptocurrency, and Oil & Gas – where victims deposits funds in wallets controlled and assessed by the suspect and his syndicate. “The suspect has admitted to moving the proceeds of his crime from different wallet addresses created for victim’s he targets in different countries – including Revolut Trust wallet for European victims and Coinbase for victims from the United States.

“Cryptocurrency analysis from one of the wallets controlled by the suspect disclosed 21 approved cryptocurrency transaction receipts amounting to a total of USD 21,150. The team recovered crypto assets worth USD 15,900 which is now secured in a custodial wallet. “Godwin Umerin, a member of the cyber gang, created several Facebook accounts which he admitted to have used in victimizing an Indonesian citizen who paid 7,000,000 Indonesian Rupiah through an account provided by a money mule.

“Similarly, Edema Bright, a 300-level student at Delta State University, engaged in sextortion and cryptocurrency fraud targeting victims in Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other jurisdictions. ‘The suspect posted online hookup advertisements and received responses from unsuspecting victims through a WhatsApp account registered using a United States telephone number.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that Edema Bright also engaged victims through an online platform, www.clubhouse.com offering live audio conversations and persuaded them to invest in Bitcoin, claiming to purchase at lower prices and sell at higher rates. “He impersonated Michael Novogratz, CEO Galaxy Digital and used photographs obtained from Pinterest as profile pictures to conceal his identity.

“The last suspect, Peter Kpamichukwu Okoh, aged 27, is a website developer and owns 360 Web Tech, an unregistered web development company. He advertised his services on Instagram and TikTok with usernames 360_webtech and 360_webtech02 respectively. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect developed websites for healthcare, investment and online banking services.

The online banking platforms were designed to allow administrators to control all functions, including deposits and withdrawals. “The suspect admitted to developing 6 websites used by scammers to carry out fraudulent activities.” Exhibits recovered during the operation includes 36 mobile devices, 3 routers and other exhibits now subject of forensic examination by the Center.

The suspects will be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction upon conclusion of the necessary investigative and prosecutorial processes. AIG Ezima said, “The second case involves an intelligence-led investigation undertaken by the NPF-NCCC in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the German Federal Criminal Police Office, Bundeskriminalamt (BKA).

“Intelligence received from the RCMP revealed the activities of a suspected Nigeria-based romance fraud network which targeted elderly residents of Canada between 2020 and 2024. “Preliminary investigation indicated that members of the network employed fictitious identities on social media and messaging platforms to establish deceptive romantic relationships wi