Cynthia Chioma Atuonah, a 21-year-old Nigerian model arrested in April for allegedly scamming a German of $220,000, has been remanded in a Nigerian Correctional Centre, according to Justice Yelim Bogoro of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos state.
According to LIB, Atuonah was apprehended by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos, for allegedly scamming the 50-year-old German national out of $220,000 after offering to marry him.
SP Eyitayo Johnson, the unit’s spokeswoman, announced the arrest in a statement on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, saying the suspect enticed the victim on Instagram by pretending to have romantic feelings for him and making a bogus promise to marry him.
”The suspect, a 2019 Economics graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka; who claimed to be a Model and Proprietress of a Massage Spa known as The-Chi-Place, enticed the 50-year-old victim on Instagram by feigning romantic intentions towards him, thereby gaining the victims’ trust and goodwill,”
Miss Atuonah Chioma offered to marry the victim, invited him to Nigeria on multiple occasions for trips, and persuaded him to relocate permanently to Nigeria to live together as husband and wife.
To dispel suspicion, the victim was forced to meet with Atuonah Chiomas’ parents in Ikot-Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, where he gained their approval to marry their daughter.
The suspect (Miss Atuonah Cynthia) persuaded the victim to return to Germany to sell his house in Stuttgart and forward the proceeds of sale, together with his pension and life savings, to her domiciliary account in Bank; for the purpose of purchasing a house in Nigeria where they will both live as husband and wife, as indicated in the bank transfer narration.
During the interview, the suspect confessed in her statement that the victim transferred two hundred and twenty thousand dollars ($220,000USD) to her account.
Part of the proceeds were then used to purchase a 2-Bedroom Terrace apartment in Zara Estate, Ikota Villa, Lekki Phase II, while the remainder was used to support her mother’s business and to pay her father’s medical expenditures.
Efforts are being made to recover other proceeds of crime, while the Unit remains committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting fraudsters who are harming the country’s image,” the police added.
Following her detention, Atuonah was arraigned in court on five counts of acquiring under false pretenses, fraud, and unauthorized discussion. According to the prosecution, Henry Obiazi, the defendant committed the crimes between January and February 2022. He claimed the offenses were in violation of Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006 and Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022.
Atuonah pled not guilty when the accusations were read to her. Her lawyer, N Ugo, notified the court of his client’s bail application, pleading with the judge to give her bail in the most liberal terms possible.
The prosecutor urged the court to reject the bail application in his response.
Justice Bogoro ordered that the defendant be held in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services until May 19, when a ruling on the bail application would be issued.
