Nigerian man in UK scams women of £100,000

A Nigerian man, Adewale Adewole based in the UK, is now facing jail time after admitting to four-count charges of fraud.The married father of two allegedly scammed the women out of almost £100,000 after pretending to be a Royal Marine on Match.com, named Timmy Francis, who owned an orphanage in Africa. On one of his profiles, he had the nickname ‘Charismatic Brit,’ and on the other, ‘To live and love.’ He claimed he was looking for love.                

 Adewole is said to have used a picture of an actual Royal Marine Commando called Joshua McGowan, as his display picture.                                                                                         

 Sources say he told the women he had been robbed at his “orphanage,” and so they sent him money and paid his bills. Unknown to them, Adewole was diverting the money into his wife’s bank account. He also spent the money on expensive designer clothes, iPads, and TVs. Investigations revealed that whenever he set up dates with the women, he would never show up. Prosecutor, Charlotte Brandon told the court.

“‘Adewale told the women that on a trip to Africa, he was the victim of a crime and needed money. The crime meant he could not access his own funds. He said they would get their money back and would be sent letters from the World Health Organisation to show that he would be able to pay them.These letters were sent, but from an M30 Manchester postmark. He also sent them links to websites which, when logging in with details he gave them, appeared to show that he had a huge bank balance and would eventually be able to pay them back.One woman was asked to pay for a hotel for him.When she rang the number he gave her for the hotel, they also confirmed the information and she agreed to pay it.She later received a cheque addressed to him for £35,000 to prove he had money, but this was later discovered to be a stolen cheque forged in his own handwriting.

Over a number of months, each woman transferred significant sums of money via bank accounts and Western Union moneygrams and sent items to the defendant’s home address.
They bought electronic items, took out credit cards and loans and bought clothes from Next.

The court hearings are still ongoing.