Within a week of the release of an OCCRP documentary exposing an online fraud operation, Nigerian authorities arrested a man allegedly involved in the scheme, while another apparent victim of the same scam came forward in Romania.
In last month’s documentary, Exposed: Fake ‘Dubai Prince’ Tracked to Nigeria, reporters identified Nzube Ikeji, 31, who was afterwards taken into custody. Charges have not been filed, a spokesman for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crime Commission told OCCRP.
Mr Ikeji’s arrest came nearly a week after the video revealed how he allegedly posed as the real-life Crown Prince of Dubai, cultivating a romance that defrauded $2.5 million from Laura, a Romanian businesswoman.
A second apparent victim of the scam came forward to OCCRP’s Romanian member centre Context.ro after watching the documentary. Ana, who is also Romanian, presented Context.ro with documents indicating she was targeted by the same operation that left Laura in debt.
Both women were first contacted on LinkedIn by someone posing as the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and claiming to represent a humanitarian foundation affiliated with the royal family of the United Arab Emirates.
Communications provided by the women show that Ana first heard from the fake prince in October 2022, while he reached out to Laura a month later. Both were offered and accepted “an official vip humanitarian membership permit” for the sum of 7,748 UAE dirhams, which was paid out as 1,850 euros ($2,112).
It is common for romance scammers to impersonate the Crown Prince of Dubai in a variation of the classic romance scam, which involves an impersonator cultivating an online relationship with a victim with the goal of milking them for as much money as possible before they realise they’ve been swindled.
In the case of both Laura and Ana, identical email addresses with similar messages and fake royal membership cards were used, indicating they were victims of the same group of scammers. Laura is a first name, and Ana is a pseudonym, as both victims wish to remain anonymous out of embarrassment.
Mr Ikeji could not be reached for comment on the latest allegations involving Ana. An email bounced back undelivered, while his previous lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. A message to his WhatsApp did not deliver. He previously told reporters that he did not scam Laura or anyone else, and alleged that OCCRP’s documentary was a “targeted plan” to destroy his reputation.
The woman whom Context.ro identifies as Ana said she was invited by the fake prince to apply for a job at Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), the humanitarian foundation launched by the actual crown prince’s father and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Laura, meanwhile, was asked by a fake prince to help MBRGI invest millions of dollars in humanitarian aid in Romania.
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Neither of the opportunities was real. After they paid 1,850 euros for “official vip humanitarian membership permit” cards, both received messages saying their cards had been granted, but required another payment to be activated. Ana paid another 10,550 euros ($12,045), while Laura paid 12,550 euros ($14,328).
A fake prince had earlier steered their communications to Skype and later to WhatsApp, where he cultivated romances with them.
He told Ana that he wanted to visit her in Romania, but it would require Ana transferring 42,000 euros ($47,951). When Ana refused to send more money that she did not have, the fake prince texted her: “Now you’ve lost me and the 13,000 euros you have paid.”
While Ana stopped at that point, Laura continued deeper into the scam, exchanging thousands of messages over two years with the fake prince and even meeting his “financial manager” in London to facilitate opening a bank account.
(This report was first published by OCCRP, a Premium Times partner. We have their permission to republish.)