Investigators have determined that three criminals involved in a romance fraud in which a 66-year-old woman lost her savings stalked her online after she became entangled and fell in love with a fake persona they set up.
A source revealed last night that after the victim met a man calling himself Neil Turner on the dating website Plenty of Fish in November 2019, the gang involved in stealing €282,000 from her ensured she was wealthy.
“Evidence collected from seized electronic devices showed that these individuals googled her and viewed her social media profiles to determine that she had money,” the source said.
“This is a professional woman who had access to a lot of funds and there is no doubt that if their investigation revealed that she was a woman living in poor conditions, they would have had no interest in her.
“They knew she had a good job, and all of this shows the danger that someone’s life story is out there for people to see on the internet.”
The Irish independent may also reveal that the investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) that led to the three criminals being jailed yesterday also revealed other victims.
The three convictions are the first for romance fraud in Ireland, and sources said a key aspect of the investigation is that it led fraud squad officers to learn that criminals who communicate with victims in this type of crime are based in Ireland.
It was previously believed that they were based abroad.
Many of these crimes took place during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, a time described as a “perfect storm” for romance fraud due to a spike in dating site use by singles and offenders who had a valid excuse not to travel to to meet their victims.
After forensic analysis of electronic devices, Gardaí discovered that the three men had another victim, a woman in the United Kingdom who had lost a significant amount of money to them.
This woman refused to make a statement to gardaí and no charges have been brought in that case.
Seven other potential victims between the ages of 40 and 60 living in Ireland were also identified by Gardaí, but luckily for them, they had not yet handed over any money to the fraudsters.
“When they were identified, these romance fraudsters were still in the preparatory phase and had not handed over money to these women,” a source said.
“They were very surprised and shocked when they were approached by Gardaí and were later given detailed advice on crime prevention.”
When detectives raided in the summer of 2020, one of the suspects on the dating site was logged in as Neil Turner and a number of
of saved conversations were discovered.
“They had to save the conversation thread so they could know what different story they were telling each of their victims,” the source said.
The three convicted yesterday are suspected of working for the global crime syndicate Black Axe.
Research has shown that the men earned very little from the €282,000 stolen from the woman, with these funds being mainly transferred to bank accounts managed by more senior gang members in Turkey and
Vietnam.
Omowale Owolabi (31), of Kentswood Court, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to theft; Hit Sami Sadu (32), of Lohunda Downs, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud; and Samson Ajayi, 33, of Park Wood, Grangerath, Co. Meath, pleaded guilty to three charges of money laundering.
Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Owolabi to three years and three months in prison. He sentenced Ajayi to two and a half years in prison and Sadu to three years.