Three suspect fraudsters were remanded in custody on Sunday after pleading not guilty to swindling a woman out of some €15,000 after luring her into a virtual romance that turned out to be a scam.  

Oliver Chamberline Chibuike, a 38-year old Nigerian national living at St Paul’s Bay, fellow national 29-year-old Collins Eguavoen and Ayub Ali Khan Mohammed, a 22-year-old Indian national living in Swieqi,  were charged with various acts of money-laundering allegedly committed between January and March. 

Investigators targeted the three suspects following a report by an elderly woman who claimed to have been defrauded of some €15,000 after being lured into a virtual relationship that turned out to be fake.

Collins, who was also charged with allegedly breaching previous bail conditions, had already been arraigned in February, as one of a group of six suspects, charged with swindling another elderly victim out of some €58,000.

On that occasion, the victim was lured into a virtual relationship with a man, posing as a US soldier stationed in Afghanistan. A seventh player in that alleged scam was arraigned earlier this month. 

The trio, arraigned on Sunday over this fresh report, pleaded not guilty but were denied bail after the prosecution argued that investigations were still ongoing and could possibly unearth other similar cases.

Moreover, civilian witnesses, including the victim, were still to testify.

In light of such objections, the court presided by magistrate Nadine Lia, remanded the accused in custody.

Inspector Sarah Zerafa prosecuted.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi assisted Chibuike, lawyer Frank Cassar assisted Eguavoen while lawyer Roberto Montalto represented Ali Khan Mohammed.