German Police Arrest 11 Nigerians.
German police have arrested 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.
The Black Axe gang was involved internationally in multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on dating scams and money-laundering, Bavarian police said in a statement.
The dating trick was a “modern form of marriage fraud”, police said.
The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria “via financial agents”, authorities said.
In the process, the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose” were bought and delivered to Nigeria.
According to the police, some 450 cases of romance scamming had been reported in the region of Bavaria in 2023 alone, with the damages rising to 5.3 million euros.
The suspects, who all held Nigerian citizenship and were aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in nationwide raids on Tuesday.
Sign up and receive the latest tips via email.
