A Nigerian man who ran the
scam from inside the immigration detention facility by using 16 phones,
defrauded various small business owners, identity theft victims and would-be
lovers since the start of the year.
The forty-three year-old
Nigerian man identified as Fisayo Oluwafemi, who is said to be the kingpin of a
four-person strong crime syndicate, has been accused of defrauding victims of
almost $3 million through an alleged romance, identification and business scam
he was running from inside Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre with 16 phones.
The suspect who was
arrested at Villawood Detention Centre on Thursday morning and charged with
knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group, two counts of dealing
with the proceeds of crime and possessing identity information to commit an
offence, heads the syndicate group allegedly involved in romance scams, sending
emails pretending to be from accounts payable, stealing identities and the
fraudulent sale of products.
The Nigerian
man who was denied bail by the Police and will be arraigned in Bankstown Local
Court on Friday, was arrested after three other alleged syndicate members were
apprehended by police under Strike Force Woolana.
One of the suspects,
36-year-old Nigerian national Harriette Bangura was arrested last Tuesday and
charged with laundering $500,000 that police allege she obtained through
fraudulent business emails. Harriette who is charged with 11 counts of dealing
with the proceeds of crime and was granted bail by Central Local Court to
reappear in November, had her Land Rover suspected to be the proceeds of crime,
as well as mobile phones, documents and SIM cards from her Kingswood home and a
Hoxton Park storage unit seized.
Two other Nigerian
nationals were also arrested, after the police raided a Chester Hill home last
Wednesday. It was gathered that a 20-year-old man, who police say helped
launder $90,000 through fraudulent business emails, was arrested at home and
charged with seven counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime and
an identity theft offence.
SMH reported that a woman,
also 20, was charged with knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. Police
will allege that she was involved in the laundering of $17,000 obtained through
business email compromise.
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