Two Nigerians Remanded For Allegedly Kidnapping And Extorting Money From 80-Year-Old American Woman
- A Nigerian man, Emmanuel Adeboye, and his accomplice, Esther are in the grips of the police for kidnapping an American woman
- The American, an 80-year-old was lured to Ghana and kidnapped by the Nigerian who proceeded to extort money from her
- A collaboration betwbeeen the FBI and the Ghana Police led to the rescue of the woman and the arrest of Adeboye and Esther
A Nigerian based in Ghana is in the grips of the police for allegedly scamming an 80-year-old American woman in a romance scam.
The suspect, Emmanuel Adeboye, allegedly lured his victim, Diana, into Ghana, where he kidnapped her and began to extort money from her.
Source: Getty Images
The prosecutors told the Magistrate Court at Adabraka on December 17, 2024, that Emmanuel Adeboye had posed as Mark Harmon, an American actor and started a conversation with Diana on Facebook in 2023.
At first, the conversation had been merely platonic, but it soon turned romantic, and Diana was head over heels.
Diana’s son, Blake Medina, noticed his mother chatting with the man online and warned her that it could be a scam. She stopped, only to pick up where she left off a few months later in June 2024.
In November 2024, Adeboye, still posing as Mark Harmon, urged Diana to come to Ghana.
On November 22, 2024, Diana arrived in Ghana via Delta flight 156 from JFK.
Adeboye had allegedly sent her a picture of a fake $25,000 cheque promising to take care of all her needs when she arrived in Accra.
He then convinced Diana to facilitate a reverse mortgage on her home, for which she received $15,000, part of which she used to acquire a passport and pay for her trip.
Source: UGC
While Adeboye had told her he would pick her up at the airport, upon her arrival, Adeboye had sent a woman named Esther to transport Diana to a penthouse in Tema.
He never showed up at the penthouse during her stay there, only speaking to her via phone calls.
Diana was also ‘imprisoned’ and soon denied access to her phones and other electronic devices as well as her money.
The few times she was allowed to go outside, she was always accompanied by a group of men and Esther and was prohibited from talking to anyone.
Adeboye soon forced Diana to put up her house for sale, and that was when Blake discovered what had happened to his mother.
Diana had at this point started making phone calls to other family members begging them for money to give to her kidnappers.
In one such phone call with her son, Adeboye snatched the phone and using a French accent told Blake that her mother and Mark Harmon had been detained in Ghana while attempting to go to Cape Town with an undisclosed amount of gold and diamonds.
He said that while Harmon remains incarcerated in Ghana, Diana has been rescued, and thus, Blake should pay $150,000 for the expenses made during and after her rescue.
When Blake refused to pay the amount, Adeboye instructed him to sell his mother’s house, but Blake refused again.
Now out of options, Blake reported the incident to the San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department, which contacted the FBI.
The FBI contacted the Ghana Police Service, and a plan was devised to lure the criminals into the police's grasp.
The FBI deposited cash in Diana’s account and started tracing her ATM card. The first deposit was made on December 11, 2024, and law enforcement quickly swooped in to arrest Adeboye and Esther. Diana was also rescued.
The Adabraka Magistrate court remanded them into prison custody and is expected to reappear on January 9, 2025.
Meanwhile, the police are hunting down the remaining suspects.
Two Ghanaians sentenced over romance scam
YEN.com.gh reported that two Ghanaian nationals were sentenced in the US and ordered to pay over $500,000 each.
They reportedly targeted certain elderly US citizens through phone calls and online platforms.
The suspects were identified as Sadia Alhassan (35) and Mohammed Saaminu Zuberu (39).
Proofread by Samuel Gitonga, Copy Editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
