A NOTORIOUS Nigerian fraud gang sent people to work for banks and IT firms in Ireland, The Irish Sun can reveal.
The ‘Black Axe’ mob, which specialises in romance fraud and other scams, laundered more than €14million cash here from its global operations.
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Under ‘Operation Skein’, over 400 suspects have been identified by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, working closely with Interpol and the FBI, and 100 arrests have been made.
One source said: “The Black Axe gang are massive and they sent hundreds of people to Ireland to facilitate their scams.
“They send people here to open accounts, work in banks and in firms that can help them launder the proceeds of their criminality.”
Latest gardai stats show that between January and May of this year, 31 cases of romance fraud were reported with a total loss to the victims of €812,715.
Twenty three of the victims were female and eight male, with the average age of the women 44 and the men 47. The oldest victim was 69 and the youngest 27.
In all cases except for one, the victims met the fraudsters on dating sites and apps.
One of the gang’s main associates in Ireland — Giuseppe Diviccaro, 45 — was later caged for his role in online scams.
In a scam last year, gardai were contacted by Hungarian police on the trail of $4,000 sent by a woman to a bank account registered in Ireland.
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Investigators found the account had received 46 payments from 12 people from Germany, Croatia, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland and the UK.
Det Supt Michael Cryan from the GNECB warned people on social media to be careful.
He said: “People who open accounts or allow their accounts to be used by these professional gangs should also realise that they can face very serious charges, including money laundering.”
