In mid-December, a 30-year-old Nigerian named Friday Adejoh posted a video on Instagram of his day cruising on a motor yacht off the Dubai coast.
“Life in 2024… amazing,” he wrote.
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Mr Adejoh’s alleged victim may feel differently.
Mr Adejoh is wanted in the US for allegedly playing out what is commonly known as a “romance scam,” according to an indictment filed in February 2024, which has not previously been reported.
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The indictment mentions multiple targets of the alleged scam, but focuses on one unnamed “e-sport athlete” who was allegedly defrauded of $1.3-million-worth of bitcoin.
Just a few weeks after prosecutors say he cashed out that cryptocurrency, Mr Adejoh bought two properties in Dubai worth about $860,000 combined. Records from the Dubai Land Department show that he used a passport from the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis to make the 2020 purchases.
The records show that he still owns one of the properties — a one-bedroom apartment in the 75-storey SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences in the glitzy Business Bay area.
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According to the US indictment, Mr Adejoh created a profile on a dating app and called himself “Mabel.” Chatting on the app as Mabel, he allegedly coaxed money out of “Victim 1,” who lived in Orange County, California, and earned a living playing e-sports, which involves teams competing against each other in online games.
Working with co-conspirators, including a fellow Nigerian named Chekwube Mefoh, Mr Adejoh set up “a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading application and website using the name ‘Whalepool.tech,’” according to prosecutors.
The two men then allegedly convinced Victim 1 “to deposit Bitcoin into cryptocurrency wallets they controlled or which were controlled by other co-conspirators.” The other conspirators are unknown to prosecutors, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say the victim was told they would receive commission on those bitcoins.
Neither Mr Mefoh nor Mr Adejoh responded to requests for comment sent via email and WhatsApp.
Shortly after receiving questions from OCCRP, also sent on Instagram, Mr Adejoh wiped his social media accounts. However, reporters had saved screengrabs of many of his posts, including his day boating around Dubai.
READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: Dubai police issue arrest warrant for Nigerian billionaire jailed for financial crime
The posts show Mr Adejoh, who goes by the handle “jerradpb” on Instagram, apparently living a life of luxury. In one photo, he is petting a tiger at a zoo. Another one shows Mr Adejoh sitting on a BMW motorbike, and there are a couple of him with a yellow Lamborghini Urus.
“Lamborghini or Ferrari,” Mr Adejoh asked in a post last August.
In another post, he clarified: “I love Porche too.”
OCCRP’s Research and Data Team contributed to this story.
(This story was first published by OCCRP, a Premium Times partner. We have their permission to republish).
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