The eight foreign nationals arrested for internet fraud targetting lonely hearts will remain behind bars in Cape Town until Tuesday next week when they will appear in court to request bail.
The arrested men who are suspected to be members of the transnational fraud syndicate, Black Axe, appeared briefly before in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
They were named as 52-year-old Perry Osagiede the alleged founder of the Black Axe Cape Town Zone, 45-year-old Enorense Izevbigie, 37-year-old Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, 35-year-old Osariemen Eric Clement, 37-year-old Collins Owhofasa Otughwor, 33-year-old Musa Mudashiru, 41-year-old Toritseju Gabriel Otubu, and Prince Ibeh, whose age was not specified.
National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the state will oppose bail next week because some of the accused were in the country illegally and were wanted in the US.
He said NPA was aware that there were warrants of arrest for the accused in Texas and New Jersey.
The eight were arrested on Tuesday when more than 100 South African law enforcers in Cape Town, with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), swooped on their hideout.
The fraud suspects are accused of using dating websites to lure lonely women – mostly divorces and widows – into relationships before stealing their money.
Describing the scammers’ modus operandi, the police said once they had ingratiated themselves with their victims, the heartless thieves concocted sob stories about why they needed money.
Law enforcement authorities said they were aware the romance thieves had so far siphoned off more than R100 million from victims bank accounts.
The suspects in this investigation are alleged to have ties to a transnational organised crime syndicate originating abroad, said Colonel Mogale.
