At least 11 Nigerians have been arrested in Germany over a dating scam in the country, News About Nigeria reports.
The Bavarian Police disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, stating that the suspects are members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.
The police noted that the gang, known as the Black Axe Gang, was involved internationally in multiple areas of criminal activity centred on dating scams and money laundering, with its main focus in Germany.
According to them, the dating scam is a modern version of marriage fraud, in which the perpetrators pose as potential spouses to entice their victims into marriage.
They then use a variety of techniques to extract money from the victims and send it to Black Axe in Nigeria.
“Using false identities, the fraudsters, for example, signalled their intention to marry and, in the course of further contact, repeatedly demanded money under various pretexts.
“The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria via financial agents.
“In the process, the gang used a commodity-based money laundering scheme where products, often with a seeming charitable purpose, were bought and delivered to Nigeria,” the statement read.
The police noted that the suspects who were arrested on Tuesday were all aged between 29 and 53, adding that the gang had strict hierarchical structures under leadership in Nigeria, operating different territorial units.
The Police also revealed that the group had a significant influence on politics and public administrations, in particular in Nigeria, and operated under the cover of the Neo-Black Movement of Africa, an ostensibly charitable organisation used as camouflage for the gang’s structures.
