By Desire Emmanuel
The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, has arrested a 20-year-old Nigerian described as a “notorious celebrity scam and romance fraud suspect.”
The man, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, was said to have been responsible for defrauding multiple victims in the United States of America of over one million dollars (over N1 billion).
He was arrested on Monday, January 5, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos State. His arrest followed months of intensive intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring based on credible information.
According to the Airport Police Command in a statement on Tuesday, preliminary investigations revealed that the man, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos State on 23rd February, 2024, from where he coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes.
In one instance in 2024, Akpama, through a celebrity scam modus operandi, deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring thousands of dollars under the pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage. The funds were fraudulently solicited through a cryptocurrency scheme identified as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly known as “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Further investigations revealed that he also defrauded a 70-year-old female victim in the United States of $18,000 (about N25 million). The fraud was perpetrated through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile devices and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s direction.
The command wrote: “Items recovered in connection with the case included one MacBook Pro 14-inch, one iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices, and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, collectively valued at N8,141,367.
“Investigations further revealed that the suspect posed as a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were required to maintain secure communication with the victim.”
He was said to have given more useful information to the police operatives while the case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit (NPF-SFU) for further investigations and subsequent prosecution.
