Tobias Sylvester
A popular Nigerian footballer in Malta, Sunday Eboh, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding an elderly woman of €58,000 (N32.7 million) in romance scam.
According to MaltaToday, Sunday Eboh was arrested by the police on Monday, February 8, along with three other Nigerians and a Maltese national.
Police said the footballer and the other arrested suspects allegedly defrauded an elderly Maltese woman who thought she was in a relationship with an American soldier deployed in Afghanistan.
Investigations revealed that the victim was made to believe that the ‘American soldier’ was returning to Malta once his deployment ended.
Despite never meeting with the soldier, the woman took the relationship seriously and transferred €58,000 to the person who allegedly asked her to pay for his expenses.
The police were able to identify who was behind the scam and arrested five individuals aged between 28 to 58 years of age, including Sunday Eboh.
Apart from Eboh, Maltese national Alexandra Pace, Nigerian nationals; Collins Eguavoen, Marvis Iyeke and Tony Ogbonna, were arrested late Monday night and charged with money laundering.
The police suspect Ogbonna as the mastermind behind the operation, although no account was traced back to him.
Sunday Eboh is popular in Malta where he played several years as a defender at several clubs in the country before he recently retired.
He is regarded as one of the best football imports in Malta and played for Marsa, Birkirkara, Victoria Hotspurs, Marsaxlokk, Floriana, Naxxar Lions, Birzebbugia, and Pembroke all in the European country. He also played for Greek side Apollon Smyrnis.
KanyiDaily had also reported how three Nigerians became the first people in Irish’s history to be charged over an alleged ‘romance scam’ Internet fraud in Ireland.
