45-year-old Nigerian bags 18-year jail term for scam

One Michael Ikechukwu Leonard, a Nigerian national has been bagged 18-year jail term over a fake customs enforcement scam by a Southern Vietnam court.

The 45-year-old was convicted on Thursday of “deceiving others to steal their assets” in a scam which targeted wealthy Vietnamese women.

A state media on Friday reported that the court in Can Tho city determined that the convicted accessed his victims’ on messaging apps using various alter egos, including a US army officer.

Leonard was said to have promised to send his victims presents, including laptops and jewellery from the US.

He was arrested alongside his local accomplices, Huynh Ha Binh, Huynh Ha Uyen and Nguyen Tran Quynh Nhi who would contact the women under guise of been customs agents and demand fines for the non-existent shipments.

The syndicate was arrested after successfully conned a woman of 28,500 dollars in Can Tho.

Leonard’s accomplices received sentences ranging from 12 to 15 years.

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