Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Two foreigners remanded in Singapore for probe into Internet love scams

SINGAPORE — Two foreigners believed to be involved in a series of transnational Internet love scams were remanded for further investigation on Tuesday (May 14).

(From left) Nigerians Awolola Oladayo Opeyemi, 34, and Awolola Gbolahan Ayobami, 37, have been remanded in Singapore for further investigation into their involvement in a series of Internet love scams.

(From left) Nigerians Awolola Oladayo Opeyemi, 34, and Awolola Gbolahan Ayobami, 37, have been remanded in Singapore for further investigation into their involvement in a series of Internet love scams.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — Two foreigners believed to be involved in a series of transnational Internet love scams were remanded for further investigation on Tuesday (May 14).

In a statement on Monday, the Singapore Police Force said Awolola Gbolahan Ayobami, 37, and Awolola Oladayo Opeyemi,34, will be charged with the offence of abetting others to dishonestly receive stolen property.

If convicted, the Nigerian nationals — who were arrested in Malaysia — can be jailed up to five years and fined.

Both men will return to court on May 21.

This is the first time that love scam suspects based overseas have been arrested and sent to Singapore for prosecution.

Suspected of being part of an African syndicate, Ayobami and Opeyemi allegedly recruited two Singaporean women, who acted as money mules, to receive at least S$85,700 from victims here in 2017 and 2018.

The women then allegedly handed the cash to members of the syndicate in Malaysia, the police said on Monday.

Investigators from Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department worked with their counterparts in Malaysia in a joint investigation and established the identities of the two men.

Both of them were arrested by Malaysian police officers in Kuala Lumpur during an operation on April 16 and taken to Singapore on Monday.

The police said that there were 660 reported cases of Internet love scams last year. Victims in Singapore were cheated of at least S$27.5 million.

Related topics

crime courts

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.