Romance scam: Nigerians declared wanted in Canada

One Nigerian student has been arrested and a Canada-wide warrant of arrest has been issued against four others after they allegedly conned victims out of millions of dollars in online romance scams.

The wanted suspects are Kelvin Awani, 24, Jonah Eigbuluese, 22, Joshua Ometie, 25 and Clinton Newton, 27. The four students, alongside Austin Newton, 28, are accused of defrauding victims of over $2 million in the past two years.

Police say the five men were living in Regina during the time. Austin Newton was arrested in January, but the other four suspects could be anywhere in Canada, police say.

The warrants were issued following an 18-month investigation by federal RCMP officers that involved a series of surveillance operations, numerous interviews and the investigation of over 50 Canadian bank accounts.

Austin, who faces numerous fraud-related charges, is scheduled to make his next appearance at Regina provincial court on April 21, 2020.

The Saskatchewan police were struck by the apparent authenticity of these online romances and by the time devoted by the suspects to the people they were victimizing.