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.
They bought electronic items, took out credit cards and loans and bought clothes from Next.
The court hearings are still ongoing.
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