Wisdom Mmaduka, a suspected notorious advance fee fraudster, from Onicha in the Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, has been arrested and detained for reportedly scamming women through fictitious weddings.
The suspect is the head of a syndicate which includes fake parents and in-laws that regularly accompanied him to the fictitious wedding ceremonies.
The 30-year-old, together with 18 other alleged criminals, was paraded by the Imo State Police Command.
Henry Okoye, the state police command’s spokesman, said Mmaduka was detained after he fraudulently collected N1.4 million from one Miss Judith via ATM transfer under the pretense of getting married to her.
He said a data-tracking analysis and intelligence-led operation by Owerri Area Command detectives resulted in the capture of the well-known advance fee scammer.
According to Mmaduka, who admitted to the crime, his method of operation is to target wealthy single women with the promise of marriage to swindle them of their hard-earned money.
“I found that many wealthy or comfortable ladies have trouble getting married and that they would go to any lengths to wed a handsome young man,” he remarked.
“I, therefore, began exploiting marriage as a means of extortion from them. Before leaving, I only completed a sizable portion of the marital rites.”
He revealed that he has a syndicate he utilizes to pose as his parents and in-laws.
“The innocent lady will think I have excellent intentions after seeing these. As a result, I will steal their ATM card, steal all of the money from their account, and then vanish into thin air,” Mmaduka admitted.
Interestingly, the police claim that after his arrest, six of the women he had conned appeared at the station and confirmed that they had been duped out of significant sums of money by the same culprit using the same marital arrangements.
“One red Highlander jeep, bearing the registration number LLD54AR, which he had stolen from Rose Mgbe ‘f’ of Cross River State, was found.
“Additionally, he has a duplex he allegedly built at Naze with the money he got from his fraud dealings.
“He has been arraigned in the Federal High Court, Owerri, and remanded in police custody”, Okoye said.
