Nigerians are being sought in the US for wire fraud fees. Reporters discover him in Dubai, where he owns a gorgeous apartment.
In mid-December, a 30-year-old Nigerian named Adejo on Friday posted a video on Instagram of his day of cruising on a motor yacht off the coast of Dubai.
“Life in 2024… Amazing,” he wrote.
The alleged victim of Adeho may feel differently.
Adejoh is being sought in the US to allegedly revive what is commonly known as “romance fraud,” according to the indictment filed in February 2024.
The indictment mentions multiple targets of alleged fraud, but focuses on an unnamed “esports athlete” in which $1.3 million in Bitcoin has allegedly been scamned.
Just weeks after prosecutors said they had cashed out the cryptocurrency, Adeho bought two properties in Dubai, worth around $860,000. Dubai’s land sector records show that he is making his 2020 purchase using passports from the Caribbean island nations in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Records show that he still owns one of the properties. This is a 75-storey SLS Dubai hotel and residence one-bedroom apartment located in the gorgeous Business Bay Area.
According to the US indictment, Adejo created a profile on a dating app and called herself “Mabel.” Chatting as Mabel on the app, he is said to have withdrawn money from “Victim 1” who lived in Orange County, California, and won esports, including teams competing with each other in online games.
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According to prosecutors, Adejo worked with a co-conspirator, including a fellow Nigerian named Cekuub Mefoha, to set up a “fraudulent cryptocurrency trading application and website using the name whalepool.tech.”
The two men were later said to have been convinced that Victim 1 would “leave Bitcoin in a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by other co-conspirators.” The other conspirators are unknown to the prosecutors, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say the victims were told to be on committees on those Bitcoin.
Neither Mefoh nor Adejoh responded to requests for comments sent via email and WhatsApp.
Shortly after receiving a question from OCCRP, which was also sent on Instagram, Adejoh wiped out his social media accounts. However, reporters had saved screen grabs of many of his posts, including boats around Dubai.
The post shows that Adejoh, who goes on Instagram with the handle “Jerradpb,” clearly shows that he is living a luxurious life. In one photo, he is petting a tiger at the zoo. The other shows Mr. Adejoh sitting on a BMW bike, with his couple in the yellow Lamborghini Urus.
“Lamborghini or Ferrari,” Adejo asked in a post last August.
In another post, he said, “I love pouches too.”
The OCCRP research and data team contributed to this story.
(This story was first published by Premium Times partner OCCRP. There is permission to republish it).
