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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Federal Charges for Scammer Nailed by Dateline

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A federal grand jury in Greenville, South Carolina indicted Kenneth Ojua (a/k/a Diplomat “Jeffrey Grant”) – along with “Barrister Adewale Davis” and 4 other alleged co-conspirators in an international internet fraud ring.

Ojua was arraigned in Greenville and federal Magistrate William Catoe ordered him held without bond pending additional hearings.

On May 2, 2010, Dateline told the story of a Connecticut woman who had been cheated out of her life savings by internet scammers. Dateline’s Chris Hansen launched a year-long investigation aimed at luring some of her scammers out of the shadows. Dateline’s investigation finally paid off when Hansen met face-to-face with Ojua in a Greenville hotel room.

During the meeting Ojua tried to collect $37,600 dollars to pay storage fees for a trunk supposedly held in an underground vault and containing the woman’s multi-million dollar inheritance. The meeting was documented by Dateline’s hidden cameras.

Ojua was arrested by Greenville city police shortly after the meeting — but denied any wrongdoing. The U.S. Secret Service then launched its own investigation.

Federal agents are still attempting to identify and locate the conspirators overseas.

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