Nigerian man arrested in Tokyo for ‘inheritance’ scam

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a male Nigerian national over the alleged swindle of a man in Setagaya Ward earlier this year.

In April and May, the suspect, 36, allegedly defrauded the man, aged in his 50s, out of a total of 3 million yen.

The suspect denies the allegations, telling police he collected the “money to buy a car on behalf of an acquaintance.”

In carrying out the ruse, the suspect posed as an employee of a foreign bank in calling the victim on the telephone. “You can legally collect 400 million yen in an inheritance from a Japanese person with your same surname who died in Libya,” he falsely told the victim.

The victim then sent the money to the bank account of the suspect to cover the preparation of documents necessary to receive the claimed inheritance which inturn was used for his own personal expenses.

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