Three men who were jailed for conning a woman out of her life savings in a romance fraud were working for the notorious international Black Axe gang, gardaí suspect.
And we can reveal that the thugs sent around €250,000 of the victim’s money from Ireland to accounts linked to fake companies set up in Turkey and Vietnam. The gang is believed to have then used the money to buy products to ship back to Nigeria where they were sold.
The Nigerian Black Axe gang is one of the biggest fraud gangs in the world and is behind a spate of romance scams across Ireland. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the woman met a man calling himself Neil Turner on dating site Plenty of Fish in November 2019.
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He began to ask the woman for money to help him with his business. Over a six-month period, she transferred just over €254,000. The woman went on to borrow a further €50,000 and gave it to ‘Turner’.
Gardaí linked the fake profile to three Nigerian nationals living here. Omowale Owolabi (31), of Kentswood Court in Navan, pleaded guilty to theft. Raak Sami Sadu (32), of Lohunda Downs, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.
Samson Ajayi (33), of Park Wood, Grangerath in Co Meath, pleaded guilty to money laundering. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Owolabi to three years and three months in prison, Ajayi to two-and-a-half years and Sadu to three years.
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