The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a suspect accused of posing as a World Bank official to defraud victims of over $250,000 in a cross-border scam spanning several years.
The suspect, identified as Agbor Martins Black-Diamond, was reportedly apprehended on March 31 following intelligence received from the East Africa Sub-Sahara Africa Safe Promotion Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to police spokesman Anthony Placid, two Kenyan victims, Julius Kithome and Cynthia Kithome, were introduced to the suspect in Nairobi by an intermediary. Investigations revealed that in 2024, the suspect allegedly convinced the victims to secure a bank loan using family property as collateral to access a fictitious $850,000 empowerment fund in Ghana.
Police said financial analysis confirmed significant transfers from the victims, including $57,975 sent between February and July 2023.
Further findings showed that the suspect’s organisation, Black Diamond African Beauty Restoration Foundation, was not registered in Nigeria. He was later said to have registered another company, United African Continent Limited, in November 2024 in an attempt to legitimise the operation.
Authorities also alleged that the suspect extended the scheme to local farmers in Kuje Area Council, collecting ₦50,000 from each victim under the guise of empowerment and capacity-building programmes.
In a separate case, police arrested a former employee of NewLife Ventures Makurdi, Chinedu Mbachu, over alleged unauthorised modification of computer systems, cybersquatting, and diversion of company funds.
Two other suspects, Ayodele Daramola and Dada Babatunde Oluwatobi, were also apprehended in connection with an alleged ₦85 million fraud involving unauthorised access to company systems and fund diversion.
Police disclosed that about ₦61 million linked to the fraud was allegedly spent on online gambling and betting platforms.
