Woman conned of RM130,000 by ‘Caucasian boyfriend’

KUALA LUMPUR: All she wanted was a partner to spend the rest of her life with — until she was conned of RM130,000 by her “Caucasian boyfriend” who turned out to be a Nigerian.

The 42-year-old teacher began “dating” the man two months ago when the two met on the Internet.

Smitten with his “appearance”, the woman jumped into the relationship several days after getting to know him.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Zainol Samah said several weeks into the relationship, the man told the woman that he was financially constrained and that he needed her help.

“He also promised her he would pay double the amount and in American currency.

“Out of love, the woman wired the sum into a local bank account. Several weeks later, the two arranged a meeting at a hotel in Jalan Tun Perak,” he said.

On Saturday, the teacher met the 36-year-old man for the first time because he wanted to repay the RM130,000 that she had lent him.

ACP Zainol said the man handed her a black briefcase containing US$22,100 (RM81,770) in “cash”.

“She was shocked to see that her ‘boyfriend’ was a Nigerian.

“A heated argument broke out and when she checked the currency notes, she knew that something was wrong and immediately called us,” he said.

When police arrived at the scene and the woman informed them that she had received a briefcase containing cash, which she believed was fake.

When asked how she got the briefcase, she pointed to the man.

“We checked and found that the ‘cash’ was not genuine. Inside the briefcase were 221 pieces of fake US$100 notes and some equipment believed to have been used in the production of counterfeit money.

“He was immediately arrested and brought to the district police headquarters,” ACP Zainol said, adding that the Nigerian, who entered the country a week ago and was a student at a private college here, was arrested at about 2.05pm.

ACP Zainol said police did not discount that the man was involved in a black money syndicate.

The suspect is being remanded until today.