A fraudster used a fake name to con a besotted British woman out of £10,000 before investigators found he had conned at least eight other victims.
Osagie, a con artist from Nigeria who was originally from Lagos used many false names to reach out to women via dating and social media.
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), he cheated one woman out of nearly £10,000.
According to investigators, he was known as Tony Eden and spoke with the victim for 10 months over a dating website.
Aigbonohan convinced the woman to loan him money in order to buy machinery and equipment for his business overseas.
According to the NCA nine funds were transferred by the victim under false names.
The cash eventually made it to Aigbonohan’s personal account, which was used daily for spending.
Osagie, a con artist from Nigeria (pictured), used many false names to reach women via dating and social media.
Telephone data indicated that he had received money from at most eight victims, and he spoke with over 670 people.
According to the agency, the victim was suffering from terminal illness. However, the con artist continued his pursuit of her even after she died.
Aigbonohan was arrested by officers in July 2021. They discovered that he held a fake driver’s licence and had no legal right of being in the UK.
Two years earlier, he had already overstayed his visa.
He lived in Abbey Wood, London and spent his victims’ cash across London, Manchester, and Glasgow.
The officers found footwear that had been purchased using store coupons, and they were able to link it back with one of the victims.
Aigbonohan appeared at Southwark Crown Court Friday to plead guilty to money laundering and fraud charges.
He will be sent to the same court for his sentence on January 14, 2022, and will remain in custody until that time.
Dominic Mugan is the NCA’s operations manager. He said that romance fraud was a very cruel crime. It can have devastating effects on victims financially and emotionally, leaving victims feeling as though they are to blame.
“Aigbonohan displayed total disregard for victims and was content to continue fraud by shifting money between fraudulently-held accounts.
It’s possible that the victim contacted many more people than what we know. Action Fraud would like to know if you believe you might have been a victim.
Aigbonohan appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Friday (pictured), and pleaded guilty charges related to money laundering and fraud.