Afeez Alao, one of the 35 Nigerians arrested for Fraud by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI in Texas USA, has been caught on tape spraying money on Popular Fuji Musician, Kwam 1.
Apparently, 37 year old Alao is a popular socialite known for spending lavishly. He is currently facing several years in prison after getting indicted for fraud running into millions of dollars.
BACKGROUND
Afeez Abiodun Alao and several others entered hot water after FBI investigations revealed that they were involved in a fraud worth $117million. The suspects, who have allegedly defrauded over 100 people nationwide are facing serious indictments for money laundering and wire scam.
They were accused of grossly conducting romance schemes to defraud and steal from unsuspecting older American adults. It was learnt that the suspects used fake names on dating sites to prey on their targets including widowed and divorced.
These victims were made to build trust with the scammers as they would pose interest by sharing a fake snivel story and then requesting a large sum of money. Acting U.S. Attorney, Prerak Shah, stated at a press conference while announcing the charges against them that “These criminals rely on victims’ isolation, loneliness, and sometimes their grief. The only mistake these victims make is being generous to the wrong people.”
“Once they depleted the savings they vanished into thin air. Romance scams are often difficult to prosecute because victims are often embarrassed, feel duped, and don’t want to come forward.”
Shah encourages victims to come forward and reassures them that the scams are more common than one might think, disclosing that more than 20,000 people lost $600million in romance scams in 2020.
Meanwhile, eleven of the arrests were made in the Northern District of Texas while the remaining 24 were made in the Eastern District of Texas.
Identities of the Nigerians charged in the Northern District of Texas were;
David Animashaun, 38 – arrested in DFW, charged with wire fraud conspiracy.
Oluwalobamise Michael Moses, 40 – arrested in DFW, charged with wire fraud conspiracy
Irabor Fatarr Musa, 51 – arrested in the Eastern District of Texas, charged by the Northern District of Texas wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy
Ijeoma Okoro, 31 – arrested in DFW, wire fraud conspiracy fraud, money laundering conspiracy
Chukwemeka Orji, 36 – arrested in DFW, charged with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy
Emanuel Stanley Orji, 35 – arrested in DFW, charged with wire fraud conspiracy
Frederick Orji, 37 – arrested in Dallas, charged with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy
Uwadiale Esezobor, 36 – arrested in Lubbock, charged with mail & wire fraud conspiracy
Victor Idowu, 36 – arrested in Los Angeles, charged with mail & wire fraud conspiracy
Afeez Abiola Alao, 37 – wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy
Ambrose Sunday Ohide, 47 – wire fraud conspiracy.
NIGERIANS AND LAVISH SPENDING
Fraudsters popularly called ‘Yahoo-boys’ in local Nigerian Parlance are easily identified because of their love for lavish spending.
They are known to throw big parties and invite indigenous musicians to their parties where they spray large wads of cash both in local and foreign currencies.
An example of this is the video below of Alao spraying cash on Kwam 1;
Below is another video of another ‘Big-Boy’ popularly known as ‘Elele-ruffy’, spraying cash on the same artist in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun state;
Another notable example of lavish spending can be seen in the video below:
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has been making giant strides in its fight against internet fraudsters. The agency headed by Abdulrasheed Bawa has been making successful arrests almost on a weekly basis.
Expressing confidence in the agency’s ability to overcome the menace of internet fraud, Bawa revealed on Thursday that 80% of its convictions are cyber-crime related.
“I want to authoritatively state that as at September, 2021, the commission has recorded about 978 convictions out of this, 80 per cent is connected to cybercrime and cybercrime related offences.”
“The society is increasingly relying on the internet and other tools to engage in communication and conduct business activities among other benefits.”
“However, this development has made our e-dealings vulnerable to cyber attacks and negative consequences of security threats.”, he said.
