Nigerian romance scammer arrested for allegedly defrauding elderly woman over R2 million

A 30-year-old Nigerian national arrested for his involvement in a romance scam appeared at the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Roland Enuwese Esosa allegedly defrauded an elderly person he met on the dating app Tinder of R2 million. He was arrested last week Wednesday in Northgate Mall in Roodepoort, Gauteng before being brought to Stellenbosch.

He allegedly pretended to be an American engineer by the name of Larry Cole. Once Esosa had developed a relationship, he made up a story about why he needed money. The victim subsequently parted with R2 million over a six-month period.

He faces charges of fraud and money laundering. He was the subject of a multi-disciplinary investigation led by Captain Bernard Adams of the Stellenbosch Detective division, John Alexander, lead investigator at Royal Investigations and Sergeant Allister Marajh at Stellenbosch Vispol division.

“Royal Investigations were assigned to investigate a romance scam case amounting to R2 million,” explained Alexander.

“Our investigation led us to Northgate Mall in Roodepoort, Gauteng where we arrested Esosa. The Stellenbosch Detectives played a pivotal role, especially Captain Bernard Adams and Sergeant Allister Marajh. Immediately after the suspect was arrested he attempted to bribe the arresting officers with R500 000.00 for his release.”

He added that they found a BMW key in his possession which led them to a expensive sports vehicle in the parking area. Esosa again offered the vehicle to the officials to secure his release.

“Unfortunately for him we still have honourable police officials who cannot be bribed,” said Alexander. The suspect failed to provide a reasonable explanation as to how he acquired this expensive vehicle. A decision was taken to seize the vehicle subjected to further investigation.

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