Man admits trying to bilk $ from Montco man in dating fraud scam

A Maryland man this week admitted to being a participant in an Internet Nigerian dating scam that bilked almost $ 30,000 from an older Hatfield Township man and was looking to take another $ 46,000 from the man.

Maxwell Gbogboade, a 45-year-old Nigerian native who has been in jail since his arrest last May 19, this week was handed a time served to 23-month prison sentence following his guilty plea to a charge of attempted theft.

While Montgomery County Judge Thomas C. Branca ordered his immediate parole, the judge also gave Gbogboade a three-year probation sentence that will begin after he completes his parole time. This means that Gbogboade will remain under court supervision for approximately the next four years.

The situation for the 64-year-old victim would have been worse if alert bank officials and authorities had not intervened.

The victim last year met a "Mary Douglas" through an online dating service. Their online relationship progressed through a series of emails and online chats.

At some point during the electronic relationship, "Mary Douglas" told the victim that she was traveling to Africa to star in a movie and needed some financial help with her traveling costs and related expenses.

Led to believe that "Mary Douglas" would be coming to Hatfield Township to be with him after her movie was completed, the victim wired and sent money transfers totaling over $ 24,000 to "Mary Douglas" and her "manager," according to authorities. The victim also paid $ 5,000 to fly a "money courier" from Nigeria to London to New York to Philadelphia to pick up an additional $ 46,000 that "Mary Douglas" needed.

PNC Bank officials became suspicious on May 19, 2011, when the victim came to a branch office to withdraw $ 46,000 in cash, explaining he needed to give the money to a woman he met through an online dating service. These bank officials contacted police.

Reviewing the victim's electronic correspondence with "Mary Douglas," township police and county detectives discovered that the photos that she sent to the victim were photos of several different women taken off other websites, including pornographic sites. They also learned in their investigation that the Internet addresses that "Mary Douglas" was using originated in Nigeria.

The victim received a call from Gbogboade, who identified himself as a money courier by the name of "Soloh Batuya," at about 5 p.m. on May 19, telling the victim he had just flown into Philadelphia and to meet him at the airport hotel with the $ 46,000 in cash. He gave the victim a cellphone number to call when he arrived.

Working with Philadelphia police and airport security, authorities set up surveillance at the hotel and airport. Authorities took Gbogboade, who matched the description he had given the victim, into custody when he answered his cellphone after police dialed the number that he had given to the victim.

Gbogboade told authorities he had traveled from his home in Maryland to pick up money to purchase a car and send it to Africa, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities believe that others, likely living in Nigeria, were part of the scam. However, no additional arrests have been made in the case.

Margaret Gibbons: 610-279-6153; mgibbons@phillyburbs.com; Twitter, @peggibbons 

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