CRIME: 4 NIGERIANS DUPED BELGIAN NURSE SUM OF €61,500

Two Nigerians, Gabriel Osereme Xavi (a.k.a. Collins Page) and Aikhaituamen Best Junior have been arraigned for duping a Belgian nurse via Facebook the sum of€61,500.

The accused persons allegedly duped a 49 year-old Belgian nurse, Goryczka Janina, whom they met on Facebook, of the sum of fifty five thousand, five hundred Euros.

The victim allegedly met one of the accused persons sometime in January, 2014.Gabriel Osereme Xavi who introduced himself as “Collins Page”, a Croatian Engineer resident in Wigan, England, contacted her with the story that he was in Nigeria to supervise a construction project in Edo State and that he was having difficulty with his credit card as it had been blocked for security reasons. He solicited Janina’s assistance for desperate cash.

Over the next few weeks, Janina kept sending him money until she had transferred a total of €61,500 through one Emmanuel Okoh based in Cape Town, South Africa and Messrs Junior Best and Cyril Ojiemen.

However, when ‘Mr. Page’ pressurized her for more money, Janina confided in a friend who told her that she might have fallen into the hands of scammers.

The duo was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice E.F. Ikponmwen of the Edo State High Court sitting in Benin, on charges bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence.

Two of the charges against Xavi read:
Count-1: “Gabriel Osereme Xavi (a.k.a. Collins Page), Aikhaituamen Best Junior, Ojiemen Cyril (still at Large) and Emmanuel Okoh (still at Large) sometime between January and February 2014 at Benin within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable court with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain money by false pretence from Goryczka Janina, offences contrary to and punishable by Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006”.

Count-2:  “Gabriel Osereme Xavi (a.k.a. Collins Page) and Emmanuel Okoh (still at Large) on or about the 31st day of January, 2014 at Benin within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable court with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of €40,000 (Forty Thousand Euro) from Goryczka Janina on the false representation that you were a Croatian Engineer handling a road construction project in Edo State, Nigeria and the money was for purchase of equipment and materials towards the project, which representation you knew to be false.”