Nigerian, Zambian arrested in romance scam
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A Nigerian man and his Zambian friend have been arrested for allegedly duped Thai women in the so-called romance scam.
Immigration Bureau Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Natthathorn Prohsunthorn told a press conference Sunday that Aroh Chukwudipaul, 26, a Nigerian, and Patrick Banda, 29, a Zambian, have been arrested following a complaint by a Thai businesswoman.
Natthathorn said the two were charged with duping Thai women to believe that they were Americans and they allegedly collaborated with some Thais to deceive their victims to pay a lot of money for custom clearance process for what claimed to be gift or cash sent to them.
The immigration police chief said the arrest of the two was made after a businesswoman filed complaint with police that she was deceived to wire Bt836,500 to a Thai woman who claimed to be a customs official and who claimed that she had received a gift of a lot UK banknotes from her American Facebook friend.
She transferred the money and the woman and the “American general” disappeared.
Police tracked the money and found that a Thai woman withdrew the money from an ATM machine in Nakhon Si Thammarat and wired to Chukwudipaul’s account.
Police arresed Chukwudipaul, who had no entry visa, and his testimony led to the arrest of Banda, whose entry visa expired on May 20.
